2011 Criterium du Dauphine with Paul Sherwen

2011 Criterium du Dauphine – Versus coverage with commentary by Paul Sherwen and Bob Roll.

00:00 Introduction
01:38 Prologue (Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne) [5.4 km – ITT]
44:16 Stage 1 (Albertville to Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse) [144 km]
1:28:05 Stage 2 ( Voiron to Lyon) [179 km]
2:12:20 Stage 3 (Grenoblee) [42.5 km – ITT]
2:56:25 Stage 4 (La Motte-Servolex to Mâcon) [173.5 km]
3:41:02 Stage 5 (Parc des Oiseaux – Villars-les-Dombes) [210 km]
4:24:46 Stage 6 (Les Gets to Le Collet d’Allevard) [192.5 km]
5:09:17 Stage 7 (Pontcharra to La Toussuirel) [117.5 km]

This coverage includes commercials.
Note: This video was created by Versus Network. I do not own this content.

We're in Sanjon de Moren right in [music] the very heart of the Alps from the opening day of this year's Criterium Dud. Last year's [music] winner Yanni Brachovich is back hoping for a repeat win, but his challenge will be stiff because Cadel Evans is [music] hoping to fine-tune his tour to France form this week. The countdown to the Tour to France is down to just 27 days and many of the tour to France contenders are anxious to find out where their form is. This week's Criterium Dud [music] will be the testing ground. Two-time runner up at the Tour to France, Cadell Evans, is here in his last race before July and should be primed for the win. Last year's winner [music] of this race, Yanni Brachovich of team Radio Shack, is also here to defend his title with high hopes for July as well. There's the smiles though of Yianis Brachovich, the biggest win of his life, and that was a brilliant victory. Today, a short prologue time trial kicks off eight days of racing. The 63rd edition of the criterium dudren is next on versus [music] Sanjon Devorian has seen some magnificent battles in the past, including when Hannibal walked through here with 38 soldiers, 12,000 horsemen, and 37 elephants. Today is the start of the dopune. Hello everybody. I'm Paul show and alongside me is Bob Rol and we're here for epic cycle Sundays presented by Michelobe Ultra. And Bob, the Criterium Dofphane over the years has really been the testing ground for riders who want to go forward and perform well in the tour to France. >> Well, the big stars know they're in the tour. They want to see what their form is like during the Dofane. But for a lot of guys on the team, they want to get on that tour to France team. They want to make the selection and it makes the Dofphane a very exciting and very competitive race. >> It certainly does. Yanni Brachovich I have to say Bob I think last year this was his come out race wasn't it because this was the race where he took on Alberto Conidor >> he took on conidor in the mountains where Brachovich shines but surprisingly enough he won the time trial also in the doofine heralding himself as a big star for the future he had a decent tour to France had a great doofine winning the event well he certainly did but I tell you what he's up against some hard competition though because Evans I think is coming to this race [music] to try and win it because he's tuning himself right up for an attack at the tour of France this year and what about Vinukurov. >> Well, Alexander Vinurov can never be counted out in a stage race. He [music] had a decent season so far. He wants some big results here. Watch for Vino to shine in the mountains. >> Well, and Avan [music] Basso too. He's been fine tuning his form in the mountains and now he's coming back into competition here to hope to see whether or not he [music] can be competitive running up to the tour of France. But we start up here, Bob, with a very interesting, I'd have to say very technical individual prologue time trial. 5.4 km. It's a bit twisty around the center of Sanjon de Moren. Very technical course. It will not favor the pure power riders. You got to have a lot of good bike handling skills to do well in today's prologue. Sanjon Demorian, the start and the finish. A little category 4 climb at the start and then a couple of twists and turns. A long straightaway here. A big U-turn at the bottom of the course and then back through a lot of traffic furniture before the finish in the in the same village as the start. Sanjan Demorian. Well, one or two of the early riders had to actually go off into rainy conditions which made the circuit even more treacherous. The early leader though, this man Kristoff [music] Lumo recorded a time of 6 minutes and 28 seconds, 2 seconds faster than Paul Martins and Rui Costa of Spain in third place. But Bob, this is how tricky this course [music] has been. Ben Herman's here from Radio Shack, winner of the time trial in the three days of the Pana having trouble in that corner and uh barely got around there in good order. >> Robert Hessing now he's uh actually saved himself, I think, to prepare properly for the tour to France this year. He was on fire in the early part of this season with a crushing victory in the tour of Oman. >> And here's that corner that Ben Herman's had so much trouble with. Paying not noted for his technical skills, but he's trying to improve on that. He's become a much better time trialist. And like you said, Paul, in Oman, he was on fire. He won the mountain stage and the time trial in that event. He's looking to do something here in the doof also. He needs to have a good ride here. He's the type of rider on his day is the best in the world in the climbs. He's trying to improve in this time trial form. Well, in fact, in that tour of Oman, he went out and he won the individual time trial ahead of a certain Fabian Canelara. >> Canelara not beaten very often in the time trials, but that man from the Rabble Banks wad was able to do it. >> Well, out on course here, there's one or two riders now starting to see just how tricky this course can be. You know, I'm a bit surprised, Bob. There is so much traffic furniture. This looks like Johan Van Summer on the front here. >> Johan Van Summer coming up with the biggest win of his life in Peru Bay earlier in the spring. once again on that tour to France squad. A great team worker. He had the chance to win a classic and he made maximum advantage of that for every Belgian rider. Per rub is an incredible dream to win and that man right there came up with the goods and the rest of his season is pure gravy. Coming straight back off a very good performance in the tour of California where he tried to help the team and the team just could do nothing against team Radio Shack who were completely dominant with Chris Horner and Levi Liipheimer. But of course Garmin Sevel did finish in third and fourth place. Well, Christian Vanderlda had a great ride as well as Tommy Danielson and those two riders along with Johan Vansumer in here will probably be on the squad for the tour to France for the garment team always prestigious for any athlete to make the tour to front squad. >> Well, the important thing is about the criterium dedu as we said earlier for a lot of the teams and a lot of the team management they're looking at their riders performance in this event to see whether or not they'll make the final nine places. That's a good point. You bring up 25 to 30 riders on each one of these top professional team and it's virtually impossible just to get on the tour to France squad and it's quite an impressive accomplishment to be on the team of any of the teams invited to the tour. Well, we're looking here at the legs of this man, Johan Van Summer, not one of the great individual time trialists in the world, but Bob, you asked this man to ride on the flat for the team or even in the mountains. He's a great workhorse. >> Great workhorse. And Christian Van Develda and maybe even Ton Danielson will be able to use his talents later on in the tour to France. We're still looking at the time of Kristoff Lumoir. This is Zavier Zandio coming in for Sky. He's going to slip outside that time. He's still got the sweeping left hand bent to negotiate before he comes up to the finishing line. I don't think we'll start to see these times tumble, Bob, till we get down to riders of course like Bradley Wiggins. As we come up to the line then Zandio crosses the line there in 37th place. He's lost himself 13 seconds. While currently out on the course is this man, Robert Kessinger. Christoph Lenoir is still the leader, but will he be the leader once we come back from the break? >> This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on versus the superior [music] life. Perfectly balanced for the ultralite and brought to you by Strava. Built for the avid [music] cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver. straa.com/ver [music] and welcome back to the epic cycle Sundays presented by Michelob Ultra. This is Robert Hessen and I have to say Bob after a very big start to the season now I think he's starting to ramp himself up for the tour to France and Ramboank I think have got a strong squad for this year. Most definitely. Robert Hastings promising a lot throughout his career and he's wanting to do something big in the tour to France. He's the type of rider that's just been on the cusp of uncirking a huge result. He had a big win early in the season at the tour of Oman. So, he wants to carry that good form here now to the to the meat of his season. The the classics are over and it's all about the stage races. The tour to France is just on the horizon and Robert Hess wants to do a good ride and the doofine has set him up himself up for that. >> Well, this is an ideal preparation this year. I have to say the criterium dud doof in a big way. We've got some incredible mountains. Of course, there is a [music] balance. It's like a mini tour to France, isn't it? The doofina because you've got a long individual time trial. You got some big alpine passes. And that's why some of the big names come here to fine-tune themselves. >> Most certainly. And this man, Robert Hasting, wants to send a good message to his teammates. Don't worry, I'm in good form. No matter how much work you do, that will be rewarded with some big wins throughout the summer. And that man going flat out. You can see it on his face. The pain written there. 5.4 just over three miles. Doesn't seem like a long ways, but you can go through a lot of pain in that short of a distance. >> Well, he's looking now at the Flam Rouge, the red kite. 1,000 meters to go. It's been a bit of a tricky course around here. A lot of bunny hopping and a little bit of traffic furniture making it, I think, a very difficult course. As you said, maybe not the course for some of the real big specialists in the individual time trial. Somebody who has the ability to be very animated around the corners like this. Watch this. Now, here comes Hessync sweeping through these corners. That's a very difficult re the camber off camera there. and the radius continuing to reduce, but Hyn through there very well. This is in the last 1,000 meters or 1,000 yards of the bike race and a lot of twists and turns, but Hink sweeping through those corners very well. He's always the knock against Hyn was his technique, his ability or inability I should say to uh to come to grief a lot of times when the courses got technical on descents and around twists and turns. But today, he's doing a very good prologue so far, sweeping through those corners and keeping his momentum going. >> I'm sorry about a little bit of the picture break up. That's because the live pictures from the motorbike up to the helicopter and down to the finish line keep getting broken up a fraction and I think maybe that's because of the high speed of Robert Hessing coming into the finishing line. The time to beat is still that of Kristoff Luma. 6 minutes and 28 seconds. Hessing has got a long sweeping left hand bell to try and get himself up there, but he needs a good opening ride in the prologue if he wants to have any dreams at all of trying to challenge for the Dophony. This is the left hand bend. He's just going outside the time of Kristoff Luman. For a man who is not a very good individual time trialist, I'd have to say he's got to be reasonably happy with that. 12th time, losing himself just 5 seconds. >> Just 5 seconds down on Lelay Moan. That's a great ride by Lewan. But Kesync, this is a solid ride. You know, he can climb. He needs to improve his time triing to be one of the overall contenders. And this is a big improvement over what we've seen in the past from Hayes. Well, Maximlinsky, he's no stranger to individual time trials either because he has been national champion in the individual time trial of his own country. And now he too will probably go out here, Bob, to set the mark for Alexander Vinurov, who starts second rider from the end. Maximlinsky, one of the flying Kazak brothers on the Estana squad. His team boss redoubtedly of course is Alexander Vinurov. Venukurov starting a little bit later in the day. Second man from the end. Vin Kurov looking to do something, but his teammate wants to go out there, go as fast as he can go, and he can report back to Vinurov where the tricky parts are, how to pace yourself, and how to get through the prologue as fast as possible. >> Pacing yourself in an individual time trial like this is really the the important thing, isn't it, Bob? And with this climb at the start, you got to be very careful you don't go out too quickly cuz you can actually put yourself into the red zone and then never recover for the rest of the 5.4 km circuit. >> You absolutely want to build your form, build your speed throughout the event. You have to pace yourself up this first climb. You can gain a little bit in the climb, but if you go apoxic, you can lose a lot in the in the closing few kilometers and a lot of twists and turns. You got to say something to make those big jumps and accelerations out of each one of the corners. What a magnificent backdrop though for the opening day of the Dofun this year surrounded by the Alps, these mountains where we'll return in about a month's time for the tour to France. Out on the course then Maxine Iglinsky, a national champion in the individual time trial of Kazakhstan [music] way back in 2006. But Bob, maybe this is a little bit too violent for him right now. The time to beat. Kristoff Luma. 6 minutes and 28 seconds at Bill Cadri for AG Tala. Montial is coming into the finishing straight. He's accelerating up to the line now. Is he going to stop it? Yes, he is. This is a new best time. He's gone 2 seconds faster. Bob, this man has never really ridden a very good individual time trial in his life. But [music] now he tops out the leaderboard at the Dofun. We'll take a very short break and when we come back [music] we'll talk a little bit more about Yanni Brachovich. >> Winning the do was well I don't know how to describe it. It just it's very special. I was the only one to beat Alberto Contador in 2010 and that also very special for me. [singing] >> [singing] [music] [singing] [music] >> Saturday, June the 11th, the Isizod Indie Car Series continues on versus with the Firestone Twin 275s. [music] When the Texas sun goes down, the lights come up for back-to- back shootouts. For the first time ever, [music] two champions will be crowned in one night. Saturday, June the 11th, only on Versus. And as we look at that, Bob, I have to say, bit of a dragstrip race out here in San Jen as well. And one man, I think, who is looking to do a very good individual prologue here this afternoon. Won the time trial last year is Yanni Brachovich. And in fact, he was the under23 world time trial champion. And he's our Michelob Ultra Athlete profile for today. Well, I think my 2010 season was uh the best so far. My results were really good and I won a brutal race. >> And as they come up towards the finishing line and watch outic for Radio Shack, >> winning the [music] Dolphin was well, I don't know how to describe it. It just it's very special. I was the only one to beat Alberta Contador in 2010 and that also very special for me. I'll go a stage. I talked to Chris her and I told him Chris the day nobody's going to drop me. The climb itself started. I don't remember so much. I remember switch back number 20 and 17 and that's about it. The focus was just to follow him and not attack him. He was trying a lot. Maybe on TV you couldn't see that much. Maybe you could see five or six attacks, [music] but there were certainly many more attacks. >> Brachovich becomes the first Levvenia rider to win [music] the Dolphin. >> Well, he's been superb this week and I think it's during this week, Phil, that he's actually laid down his foundations for a probable selection for team Radio Shack for the tour. after the win at Dolphin and [music] my confidence went so much higher and I was ready to receive that call from Johan. The tour is special. It's super rich. It's stressful. It's not like other races, but it's the tour. It's the [music] It's the best race in the world. And uh I really enjoyed it. To be top five at the tour France, I think I have to not go too hard in the first part of the season. have a rest [music] and then build up towards the tour and be in the top shape at the right moment. >> So that's Yanni Brachovich and our Michelob ultra athlete profile today. Bob, this man he's already got himself quite a solid pedigree. >> Look at the weight there, 127 lbs. That would [music] suggest a pure climber and Rockovich one of the best in the business of the climbing. You got to ask yourself though, maybe he came on form a little bit too early this this last year when he won the doofine. He struggled a little bit in the tour to France. We'll have to see what he does later on in the summer. Yeah. Well, Bob, the thing is he did use the doofine to lay down the foundations for a place in the tour to France, which has been his dream for many, many years. The man to beat at the moment is still be Cadri from AG2R on the finishing line. This is HD from France coming in. He's lost a lot of time out on the course and I think a lot of the time is being lost because many of these riders are having a hard time with the technical difficulties out on the course. >> Well, the course is most certainly drawing. So, ideal conditions as far as the pavement is concerned, but you still have to pace yourself and it's a very violent effort. Even if you're a tiny bit slower, it turns into a big gap at the end of the stage. >> Certainly does. Nikki Sorenson, team Saxo Bank, next man to climb into the starting house. But I tell you what, the big names, the men I think are going to really start to rock the foundations. Bradley Wiggins, Alexander Vinurfani Brachovich of course starting last man today as the defending champion of the Dofina. Nikki Sorenson Saxo Bank. He's a teammate of Alberto Conador. Conidor not in the doofine this year. He did the Jurro. He was dominant in the Judalia. And so Saxo Bank perhaps a little bit of the lesser lights. They're just trying to look for a place on the Tour to France team with a good ride in the Dofina. >> Looking here at to Maxine Niglinsky. He's coming up towards the final kilometer as well. He's looks to me as if he's using rather a large gear here, but certain riders are better at the long time trial. This glint gear is normally a long time trial specialist. When you ride the individual prologue like this, it's a much more violent effort on your body, isn't it? >> Oh, most certainly. It's a more of a sprint, 3 and 1/2 miles. You can pretty much go right to your limit and peg it right there throughout the whole stage. And a longer time trial, of course, is about about pacing yourself very differently. Very technical corners. But also, you want to get the speed back up as quickly as you can. Is Ilinsky not noted for his speed there. So, uh, seems to be struggling a little bit this portion of the time trial. >> Well, he's just taken a couple of very nasty lines around those corners. That's another thing to note about the prologue time trials like this is Bob, it's in those corners, you can actually lose the race because if you lose 1 second per corner, you end up right at the back end of the pack. >> Most definitely. You multiply that by about 30 corners on this course and you can see the differences. And here he is in his tuck, not even holding on to the uh arrow bars there. Perhaps not the best tactics being used by Iglinsky. Just a few hundred meters before the finish. I would be very surprised if Eglinsky had the fastest time. >> Well, he was using a massive gear. Well, you might be wrong there, Bob, because look at that. He's got to still get around that sweeping bend, which is a little bit dis a little deceptive, but Bill Cadri 626. He'll be wondering whether or not he's going to cause a massive big surprise here this afternoon because Cadri, although he's won some road races in the past, he's never won an individual prologue. So, Ilinsky slipping outside of that and looks to me as if he's going to slip outside of the top 10. Yes, he does. 19th 21st time for Iglinsky, losing himself 10 seconds. Well, the big man who is the British [music] professional champion of the individual time trial, Bradley Wiggins, warming up. Come back and see how he can perform next. Welcome back to the Criterium Dofphane here on versus. This is Nikki Sorenson out on course. And that's a fairly good study, Bob, of a good aerodynamic position. >> Perfect time traveling position there. You can see the flat back, the bars reaching forward and turning over a massive gear. Nikki Sorenson, stage winner in the tour to France a couple of years ago, trying to do a good prologue in today's stage. >> Yes, he won a stage into the water town of Vitel. and Sorenson now as many riders Bob looking to try and get themselves a tour to France spot. Himar Zubelia. Not a bad ride by Zubelia. He's a solid professional bike rider. But the strange thing is throughout his long long career, he's only ever won four races. >> He was top 10 in the tour to France a few years ago. So Zubelia has the has the class to do a good ride. Not a great time trial in this prologue falling a fair way down from Belcadri, but not a bad ride at all for Zubelia. Well, just losing himself 7 seconds, 15th place, but for him it's going to be a little bit further down the road and he should be a strong ally for Yanni Brachovich once this race goes up into the big high mountains because that's really what the Dofun is all about. Back on course then with Nikki Sorenson wearing 191 on his back. You get a chance to see Bob just how fast this course is around here once you've negotiated the first part of the race which goes up that nasty little fourth category climb. Looked like Sorenson hesitating a little bit trying to decide which side of that traffic circle to go around. He chose left to follow the motorcycle. He started leaning towards the right, but he's now deep into the pain part of this race. And this is where the difference is made between the winners and the losers. Once you start hurting, you got to keep going deeper and deeper and keep that cadence high. The other thing as well is although this is only 5.4 kilometers long, 3 and a half miles, it's actually a very long day the roll the prologue time trial for the riders cuz they go out for a long preparation ride in the morning. Here comes Andre Kashiken. We haven't seen him for a while. A disgraced rider from Kazakhstan. Was on Austana. Was found to be using somebody else's blood during the tour to France a few years ago. Now he's trying to redeem himself. Decent ride by Kashiken. He will not challenge the time however by Bill Cadri. Well, Bale Cadri has won four races throughout his career and none of them really massive races, but it is a bit of a surprise to see him at the top of the leaderboard in the prologue time trial. Kashakin finishing inside of the top 20 losing himself just 8 seconds. But Bill Cadri the last race that he won was a year ago and the route to Sudan a very difficult route to which is right down in the Pyrenees. So maybe AG2R are getting themselves back into some form for this year for the tour to France as we go back again to Nikki Sorenson. It looks very good but as you can see Bob looking at the road surface it's quite a sketchy course around here in San John Demorian. Well, the m the machines they use in the time travel very specific for going fast in a straight line. They don't handle the twists and turns that well. Nikki Sorson really taking some risk around that corner and also they don't they don't handle the bumps as well. You would never see one of these bikes in a race like Perry Rubé for example. But in the Pro Dog on those long straightaways, that's what they're made for. Mickey Sorenson, decent ride here. Looks like he's going to slip away, however, from BL Cadri. >> Well, I tell you what, they're very rigid as well, these bikes. And you can feel every bump vibrating right up through the machine into your arms and into your back. And that's what makes it very difficult to ride these solid carbon fiber machines. You see that solid wheel at the back there. That's to make it as aerodynamic as possible. Nikki Sorenson is not going to light the world on fire with this ride. 37th place. He's lost 14 seconds this afternoon. But the big boys, there's still some big boys still to come. And here is one of them. One of the biggest three Olympic gold medals out of Beijing. And this man now, Bradley Wiggins, is looking, he said a week ago, Bob, that he's been thinking about one thing for the last two weeks, and it's this prologue time trial at the Dopan. >> Bradley Wiggins has got to do a big ride here in the prologue. This is his specialty. He comes from a track background. One of the greatest pursuers in the history of the sport. Look for Bradley Wiggins time. It'll be very important for the rest of his week. Well, this could be a good ride here because this is used Posumo road for many, many years on team Rabbank and he's made the try the transfer across now to Leopard and this team is starting to be very solid. Again, a difficult team. This looks like we're going to get a new best time as he [singing and music] comes up to the line. No, he's just gone outside by 44 of a second. Half of a second slower for Yosumi. He should have thrown the bike there. He's completely gassed at this point. He knows he's on a good ride. He's trying to get the best time be by Bel Cadri and just falls a little bit short. But a good ride anyway for that man Yos Pustuma. >> Well, this should be a good ride. The jersey he's wearing here is the jersey of the British professional time trial champion. Bradley Wiggins has won that title before in the past and now he's trying to get himself up to the top of this climb without asphixxiating himself. He will have ridden this course three or four times this morning. They closed the course very early on in the day, allowing the riders to get out there and have a little bit of a look at how the race is. This is what the provisional finish line looks like. Bill Cadri with the fastest time, 1 second faster than Posuma. And the early leader, Kristoff Lumoir, has now been pushed down into third place. Looks to me as if he's struggling a little bit with his climb. Bob, you can see the top half of his body just rolling about a fraction. >> There is Bradley Wiggins. He didn't do the Gidity talia this year. He's trying to get a tour to France in better form and he's using this year's Dofphane to do that. >> Well, one man who's also using the Dofphane [music] as preparation for the tour to France is Cadel Evans. and he'll be coming up very shortly. Straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros, compete against local cyclists [music] and track your own performance. Grab your GPS device and get started at straa.com/ver. Straa, built for cyclists. Well, I tell you what, Bob, you could do with a stra I think [music] in the mountains here this afternoon because um I'm not sure I would like to measure myself up against men like this because here you can see one of the fastest men in the world at the individual time trial flying through the corners. Bradley Wiggins looking for the win. >> That is the way to do it. Sweeping through that corner, diving in very aggressive position. You can see him leaning towards the front of the machine and that's how you generate speed in the corners. Back into the drops. Didn't hesitate one minute. Kept pedaling all the way through that 90° turn there to the left. So, looks like a good ride for Bradley Wigan so far. >> Well, he's slowing up a fraction here. That's just so that he can get himself around this corner. This is a very tricky bend there. You got to get in between that traffic furniture around there and that's why he wants to come out of the corner and immediately accelerating back up to maximum speed. We're looking around this course at an average by most of the top men of 31 32 mph. >> Bradley Wiggins, one of the best in the world at this discipline. He's won a number of prologues trying to win another one today. Well, this will be an interesting ride here too because Ivan Basso has been training a lot this year in the mountains, the high mountains of the Pyrenees and the Alps. And now he's coming up to this rendevous to find out whether or not he's going to be in form for the upcoming tour to France. Yeah, a very tough crash in training. 15 stitches to the face, crashing on Mount Etna down in Sicily with his teammates. He's had a very slow recovery. He said, "Don't count on me in the doofine. Look for me in the tour to France." He wants to get back in shape. He's going to start today. He's got some good weather at least for today on his prologue. >> Well, Ivan Basso now getting himself out on course to 5.4 kilometers. A very sketchy start as well. All these riders taking a few risks, but this man now has posted the fastest time at the mid checkpoint. Bradley Wiggins is going extremely fast. He's a time trial champion of Great Britain. He's three Olympic gold medals in Athens and in Beijing, and he knows exactly how to time himself to perfection. Former French national champion Peric Fedrio. Bob, he's not going to be too happy with this performance. >> Perrick Fedrigo, one of the top French riders. The French starting to come on better form here just before the tour to France. Quite a bit slower than his countryman, Beiel Cadri. Maybe a little bit of disappointment here for Pierrick Fedrio. He wants to go a little bit faster than that. Looking towards the tour to France in just a few weeks. >> Well, Cadri, a little bit of a surprise for me still to be at the top of the leaderboard. Now, Lars Boom. This man has got so many world titles and national championships in the sport of Cyclacross. And now he's decided in the middle part of his career, Bob, to move across to the road racing section of the sport. And a very strong squad in Rabo Bank. Couple of years ago, he won himself the opening prologue of Parise. >> Perry Nice prologue very similar to this one. Short, technical with a climb right in the middle. So Lars Boom may be one of the pre-race favorites. We should have mentioned him perhaps just for this event though. He's a time triing specialist in the prologue and he's never done anything in the longer time trials. But Lars Boom, he is very good in the technical courses. Well, just looking there, this man here, we're talking about Bradley Wiggins. He has a body built for the individual time trial. Very much like Dave Zabriski, the American time trial champion. He knows exactly what he needs to do. And this man, look how he's locked. Hardly any movement in those hands at the front of the machine. >> Well, incredible sweeping speed through the corners for Bradley Wiggins. So far, you can just feel the how he goes through there just perfectly so far. He must have done a lot of uh uh riding around this course beforehand before the stage started and he timed a couple of his corners absolutely perfectly. So Bradley Wiggins on a great ride today. Well, Cadell Evans is no stranger to winning the opening day at the to at the doofun because a couple of years ago 2009 he won the opening time trial at the Dofune way down in Avenue. He's out on course too. And I have a suspicion this man this year Bob he wants to win the Dofphane. >> Well he's on great form. He's got two stage wins already. Teno Adriatico in the tour of Romany and Cadel Evans a great climber and a solid time trial. >> He kind of won the tour of Romany by default cuz he hardly ever really attacked. He was just in the right place every day. As we now look at Kristoff Kern, he's a man from the team Europe car. He's coming up to the finishing line and he too is not going to threaten the time of Cadri at all despite the fact that he's all over the machine, all over the road. He stops the clock just inside of the top 30. 10 seconds a drift. Kristoff K not able to beat BL Cadri. That would be the shock of the year if Cadri is able to win this prologue. He's held off a lot of challengers so far and we're sitting there in the hot seat at the finish line. You're sitting on pins and needles for BL Cadri. >> Well, I don't know if you saw how fast this man came around that corner. He's into the finishing straight now because Bradley Wiggins is looking, I think, at a new best time. Look at this, Bob. The time to beat 626. He is the fastest to that point [music] of the course so far. >> Wiggins absolutely flying here now. He has one little lefthand corner. He's down in the drops here, sprinting out. Great riding so far by Bradley Wiggins and a commanding lead over BL Cadri. Well, this is the time to beat 626. And Wiggins has not even got out of the saddle. He's still keeping the pace nice and high. This is going to be a brand new best time. 623. He's beaten Cadri by 2.7 seconds. This now I think is going to be the benchmark that everyone will have to try and beat. So Bradley Wingan sets a new best time raising the bar just that little bit higher. But there's still some big names to come here at the Dofunion as this man here, Yanni Brachovich, [music] is warming up for his start. The opening day of the criterium duden and this man may well be a bit of a surprise here this afternoon because Tyler Farah is coming up to the line. Sprinters Bob always like to ride a fast time trial. Here's Tyler Farah trying to come around this last corner just a few seconds slower than Bradley Wiggins. A good ride. It is a type of course that could favor a sprinter. Tyler Farah doing a solid prologue here. He's probably got some good form in his legs after an absolutely tragic jiro where he lost his very best friend in the world Valtto Veilance. and Tyler Farah dropped out of the Jirro but coming back into form and that is a very good way for him to start this doofine >> looking down on the red shirt there of the BMC racing team rider Cadell Evans as always looking very solid in an individual time trial he's a hard man to beat in a race like this well he has a week to prove himself he's got two great stage wins so far in the season looking for maybe his best chance to win the Tour to Front in his whole career and that gives a guy a great sense of morale so let's see what kind of time Cadel Evans can do in the time trial here. It's only 5.4 km, just over 3 miles. Not ideally suited to Cadel Evans, but he's won this before in the Dofina in the past, and he would like to set the tone here on today's stage. >> But Bobby, he's changed his preparation this year for the tour to France, and I think he's got the complete backing of his team. Now, as we go back to Sammy Sanchez now, Sammy Sanchez is normally a very good individual time trialist, a man who very closely to the podium in the tour to France last year, despite a very nasty crash. He stops the line in 16th time. 9 seconds lost for him, but watch out for him a little further down the road. >> Well, when Sanchez is climbing well in the mountains, almost nobody can match him. And that's a very good prologue for the Spanish rider on the Yuscatel squad. >> Jurgen Vandenbrook, a revelation in the tour to France last year for Omega Farmer Lotto. Not really shown us very much this year of the form that he had last season. >> Well, Jurgen Vanderbrook will want to do a good prologue. He spent a lot of the spring helping his teammate Philippe Jilber who's been perhaps the most dominant rider in the world. Jielbear winning just about everything but Vandenbrook helping him in a number of those victories. >> Two times runner up in the tour to France. Cadell Evans very arrow at the front end of his machine. He's got his arms down very low there. Bob, well our governing body, the UCI has changed the regulations the number time for the bicycles and the position you can use in the time trial. But Cadel Evans has adapted very well and he's consistently super strong in the time trials. Well, I tell you what, he's not taking any prisoners in this prologue time trial here. I'm not sure if you saw the speed that he went over that traffic furniture. Obviously, like nearly all of the riders in this race, they've been in looked at the course beforehand to see what speed they can take these corners and what line they need to take around. Well, this is not a great ride by Ivan Basso. Look at that. On the left hand side is his position. On the right hand side, the time he's lost a huge chunk of time here this afternoon. He's lost himself 28 seconds. Well, Baso admittedly coming into the race a little bit underprepared and that prologue was pretty horrible for Baso, let's be honest. >> Well, Bradley Wiggins has got the best time out on the course at 6:23 is the time to beat and L Boom in fact is coming up to the line with an amazing time because Lars Boom is going to create the big surprise here this afternoon because Lars Boom is coming up to the line and he's going to stop the clock well inside of Wiggins time. Look at that. 5.8 seconds. Lars Boom, last year's winner of the prologue in Pernees, has just raised the bar a little higher. >> Well, this is a great ride by Lars Boom using the technical portions of the course. Not often times we see a cyclcross star make the transition to road racing, but he's most certainly done that here in the prologue of the doofine. >> Wow. Did you see the amount of road that was being used by Cadel Evans? He's using all of the road. He knows that every one of these corners you can each back a little second here, a little second there at the end of a prologue time trial. That could be the difference between the winning or losing. Two riders left to start to Alexander Vinurov has always ridden well at the criterium to Dofun and here he's hoping to have another good week. Alexander Vinurov, a great superstar of cycling. He has his own customuilt team in Aana. He wants to do a good prologue. He's had a bit of an up and down season. Was the big favorite for Leaz best age. Did not come well there. Let's see what Veno can do in the prologue. Well, Cadel Evans is looking at the time here of Lars Boom and he's not going to get inside of that time, but maybe he's thinking a little further down the road because this is not a terrible time by Cadel Evans. It's not a winning time he's going to put in here, but it will keep him well up there in the rankings as he stops the clock. Fourth, fifth place for Cadel Evans. He's lost himself 9 seconds. >> Well, Cadell won't be too worried about that at all. He will compare himself to riders like Sammy Sanchez and Robert Hayink. Solid ride by Cadel Evans. >> Only one man left in the starting house now. Yanni Brachovich, team Radio Shack, the winner of this race last year. This was really the race where he put himself right to the top of the sport of professional cycling. Now this year, Bob, I think he has to confirm. >> Well, he there was only one man to beat Alberto Contor in any stage race last year, and it was this man we're looking at right here, Yanni Brachovich from the Radio Shack squad, one of the big up and cominging superstars of cycling. >> Well, we'll take [music] another short break. We've got a new man at the top of the leaderboard. It's Lars Boom, but all of the riders now are out on course. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on Versus the superior lightbeer. Perfectly balanced for the ultralight [music] and brought to you by Physique. Check out Physique's new high-performance R1 and R3 road shoes at physique.com. And by Clean Bottle, the bottle that unscrews at both [music] ends for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI performance bikes or atcle.com. >> Well, here we are. Sanjon [music] de Moren Christopher Reblon trying to see whether or not he can go inside at the time of Lars Boom but Bob I have to say L boom's time is going to be very difficult to beat >> Lars Boom setting an incredible standard Kristoff Reblown trying to get close there good ride by the Frenchman on the AG2R team he's falling away a little bit and he still has a few meters to go >> well he's coming up to the line now and the time to beat his last boom this is actually a pretty good ride by Kristoff Riblon [music] sixth time for him losing 9 seconds ag2R I think bober of a team that is rejuvenated after great performances at the recent Jirro ditalia. >> Kristoff Reblown here from AG2R doing a good ride. You see Venouv flying through those corners. Vinurov, one of the best bike handlers in the business and uh absolutely not holding anything back so far in the prologue. >> Looking very solid. Alexander Vinukurov here going around these corners using the maximum amount of pavement that he can to try and keep the speed as high as he can. The important thing, Bob, is not to touch the brakes in a time trial like this. Because every time you touch the brakes every time you lose momentum going around a corner, it's a second loss here. And another second loss there. French national champion in the individual time trial, Nicolola Vogundi. Still a long ways to go for Vogund. Lars Boon setting the standard. Vogmundee perhaps a little bit quicker than Reblown, but Reblown doing a great ride to finish sixth so far in the stage. Let's see how Nicola Vogundee. He won't have the fastest time, but let's see where he winds up. Well, he's a French national champion in the time trial, but it was in a much longer version of the event than this one as he comes up to the line. Not too bad arrive by Vogand as he trails in just in 27th place, losing himself at 17 seconds. But what's probably more important is the time out on course by Alexander Vinurov because the time checks are saying that he's not far off the time of last boom. Well, it was interesting to see Venurov going through the first couple of technical corners out on the course. Absolutely no hesitation whatsoever for Veno in those two very tricky corners. >> Well, Jurgen Vandenbrook fourth overall in the Dofun last year. He'll be looking to confirm that performance last year and of course to go forward to ride well in the tour to France. He was seventh overall in the Jirro ditalia last year. As we go back to [music] Jerome Copel a lot of riders now knowing what the time is to beat. It's the time of last boom 618. A man who's got so many titles in the cyclross discipline of the sport. And I think that that has actually helped him a little bit today to get himself around some of these very tricky corners. Coppel coming up. This is actually a pretty good run by by Coppel as he comes up to the line as well. Still looking at that time of 618. He' stopped the clock inside of the top 10 in eighth place, losing just 11 seconds. Solid ride here by the Frenchman on Sour Copel, but he was not quite as fast as Lars Boom. 11 and 1 half seconds slower, but a decent ride by the Frenchman. He'll be pleased with that at the end of the day. Well, getting down here to Yanni Brachovich, a very slim, elongated bike rider, Bobby. He looks very solid on the machine, but he's really much better suited to the climbing part of this race. Well, it's quite amazing to see how good Yanni Brachovich is in the time trials, considering his slight stature. He is a great climber, but he's also very good in the time trials, and you don't see a man that that is this narrow and this skinny and this light do so well in the time trial. So everybody thinks that he's a man capable of eventually winning the tour to France much built in the same as Alberto Conidor. >> Well, Jurgen Vanderbrook now is looking to keep himself up to the top end of the leaderboard in here this week because he knows this is the important tester for the tour to France a little bit later on in the in the year once we go into the month of July as he comes around the corner. Then Vandenbrook out of the saddle fighting with that bike of his. stops the clock inside of the top 15 for him this a solid ride but maybe not as close to the top of the leaderboard as he would have expected >> well Vandenbrook facing the pressure now of being a pre-race favorite for the tour to France in Belgium they haven't seen a winner of the tour for many many many decades so Jurgen Vanderbuk a pressure wherever he goes and let's see how well he can handle that throughout this week's race and the tour to France later in the summer >> again sorry about the little bit of picture break up but with the new technology and trying to bring HD from as many races as we can here sometimes as we get a few gremlins into the circuit. But as we now go to the finishing line, this is a good ride. This is a young guy who's on his way up to the top of the sport. Dean Culp of team High Road HTC. I have to say, Bob, this is going to be a very good ride indeed. He's looking to get himself inside of 618. He's not going to do that. He's got the sweeping left hand bend. But this is going to be a very good ride by this young German rider. When he comes up to the line, he stops the clock and it's going to give him second third place. Now, this is a young man I've been told to watch out for, Bob. And a lot of people say this guy could be the next big time trialist on the block. >> Den Cole from Germany on the HTC squad doing a very good prologue there. Just a little bit slower than Lars Boom, but a great ride by the young man on HTC. >> Only two riders now left out on course Alexander Vinurov. And this man, last man to start, defending champion Yanni Brachovich. He looks very solid on the machine. He looks as if he's riding well. This is what the finishing line looks like currently. L boom 5 seconds faster than Bradley Wiggins who's in exactly the same time as Deen Cobb of Germany and of HTC. >> Seven or eight riders within the same 3 seconds but the standard so far is Lars Boom. >> Well, Vinukurov now is coming up and knows how to ride a good individual time trial. He's got a very good time on him here because Lars Boom is the time to beat. Alexander Vinurov could create the big surprise here this afternoon. Vinurov is looking at 618. He's just gone outside of it. He's lost in the last few meters. 620 and second place for Alexander Vinakurov. Watch out for this man a little bit further down the road. >> Well, this is a great indication that Vinurov is bringing solid fitness and great form to the Dofine. One man left out on the race course. Let's see if this man Yanni get a little bit faster than Larsboom, but a great bride by Venukurov to put himself in second on the stage. Well, Yanni Braovich now using all of the road. The finish line shows us Boom faster than Vinurov and Bradley Wiggins. Two seconds to Vinukurov, five to Wiggins. But now this man knows what he has to do. He's got to try and stay at the top if he can. His I think goals are going to be further down the road and of course next weekend. Two very difficult mountain stages over the final weekend of this race as Brachovich sweeps around the corner. Keeps the pace nice and high. He's into the finishing straight. >> Well to be pragmatic about this event, he wants to compare himself against the other top contenders for the overall standings. Perhaps Vandenbrook Evans most certainly and Veno Kurov. You can see that Yanni Brachovich, not a great rider, has already gone slower than Boom. And now he's gone slower a little bit than Vin Kurov. He's not a prologue specialist. This is a decent effort, however, by Brachovich. >> Well, that's the important thing about the prologue time trial. You've got to ride your heart out if you can to make sure you don't throw a few seconds away here or there. 17th place for Yanni Brachovich. Lost himself about 15 seconds on Lars Boom. But for him, as you look into those eyes of his, I think he's looking further down the road and expecting and waiting until [music] we take this race into the mountains. >> We'll have to take a look at how he did against the other overall contenders. He was third in the prologue last year. Maybe a little bit disappointing for Brachovich to start the Dolof this year. So there's confirmation [music] of Lars Boom's victory ahead of Alexander Vinurov by two seconds. Bradley Wiggins in third. He'll be a little bit upset with that [music] performance. A lot of riders further down. Cadell Evans solid in seventh place. Seluma the early leader in ninth. and Jerome Copel in 10th [music] place. Let's have a look at the notable riders a little bit further down. Tyler Farah, a good ride. Yanni Brachovich just a little bit slower than Cadel Evans. Matthew Boucher, great [music] ride by the Young American on team Radio Shack in 21st. Tony Martin a little bit disappointing [music] way down there 34th losing 17 seconds to this man Larsb Boom the stage winner. >> Well, the first yellow jersey there being presented to him just behind by Bernard Eno, a fivetime winner of the tour to France. And that L boom no stranger to winning prologues because the first time he did that was 12 months ago when he won the opening prologue of Paris. >> Parise a great test and also an indication of who's going well for the grand tours later. Lars boom he's going very well in the doofine so far. Let's see if he gets a ride in the tour to France later this summer. >> Well for a man who just a week ago was suffering with an injured knee. He's come back to very top form and let's just catch up to see what he had to say about his win this afternoon. Yeah, for sure. I'm happy. I didn't expect it. Um when I saw the the circuit this morning, um I I thought it Yeah, maybe it was perfect. It is perfect for me. A small climb and then downhill a lot of corners. Uh the beginning was wet, but um of the beginning of the race, of course, but uh for me it was perfect. >> Don't forget the epic cycle presented by [music] Michelob Ultra continues tomorrow at 5:00 with a mountaintop finish. And that's stage one of the criterium dudren. And of course, coming up next on Versus, it's the TD Bank Philadelphia International [music] Cycling Championships. And if you want to find our full schedule of cycling here on Versus, check in to NBCports.com where there's plenty of stories and make versus country your country. As the Criterium Dopane gets out onto [music] the open road for the first time, we go right into the very heart of the Chartreuse Mountains. The high spot of the race with a second catri climb to finish off. It will be a grueling [music] day. [cheering] Yesterday, the Criterium Dud began with a short prologue [music] time trial and in his specialtity, he's made his own. Lars Boom conquered the course in convincing fashion. Lars Boom is going to create the big surprise here [music] this afternoon because he's coming up to the line and he's going to stop the clock well inside of Wiggins time. Look at that. Today as the Pelaton [music] hit the open roads, Lars Boom wears the yellow jersey as race leader. But with four classified climbs and [music] a mountain top finish, the stage will be unpredictable. However, the overall contenders will have to emerge. Stage one of the [music] Criterium Dud is next on Versus. Heat. [music] Heat. >> [music] >> The ordev and the prologue is now behind us. Today we're going right into the main course. And the main course is a very hard and arduous mountain stage right through the very heart of the Alps. Hello and welcome [music] to epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra. I'm Paul show and alongside me is Bob Ro. Yesterday, Bob, in the individual prologue [music] time trial, a bit of a surprise. Lars Boom coming out of the pack head and shoulders above everybody else. >> Lars Boom able to beat all the specialists at a very short discipline. Just three and a half miles of a prologue. Lars Boom proving to be faster than Bradley Wiggins and Alexander Vinurov. Great ride by the Dutchman on the Ravel Bank squad. >> Well, he gets himself the first yellow jersey. He's not a stranger to this either cuz last year he was the winner of the opening prologue of Parise. But today is a very strange stage. It's a very difficult stage, I would say, for anybody to try and defend. Lars Boom goes into the first stage with a 2-cond advantage over [music] Alexander Vinorov, a 5-second advantage over Bradley Wiggins. Bill Cadri, the early leader, down in fifth place, looking for 8 seconds. Cadell Evans, always a dangerous man in the doof in seventh place, 9 seconds behind. Sir Luman, the early leader of [music] the prologue time trial yesterday in ninth place, 10 seconds back. Bob, the notables. >> Tyler Farah did a very good ride to finish 13th. Yanni Brachovich right in there with the overall contenders. Matthew Boucher continuing to ride well. Kasing not too bad, but Tony Martin had a pretty disappointing prologue. 17 seconds behind Lars Boom. Well, yesterday was an interesting individual prologue time trial. Lots of turns, a little climb to start off with, but today is completely different. We move away from Alberville, which a couple of years ago hosted the Olympic [music] Games, and then it's right into the mountains. Three climbs early on, but I think Bob, it's all about the end because that climb up [music] to Sierra de Chartreuse, it's not one for the sprinters. >> Just a very few flat kilometers to start the stage and then we have a tough climb, a category 2 to the finish in Sierre de Chartreuse. A great day for the breakaway to survive all the way to the finish. Time will tell, but a very exciting race course. Well, looking at the profile, Bob, I have to say it's not it's a very strange start really to a race like the Dopion because straight away you're into the mountains. Look at that. After just 30 kilometers, you got a big climb of the coat de Andre. But it's all really to me all about the end because I have a feeling Mr. Alexander Vinurov might be looking for a yellow jersey at the end of the day. Well, as we go down to live action, it's a Rabo Bank all over the front end of the main field defending the lead of their man Lars Boom who got himself the victory yesterday. And the reason they're working is because there's a threeman breakaway off the front end of the main field. And those riders are looking at an advantage of a minute and 20 seconds. At one stage, they built themselves up a maximum advantage of 5 minutes and 35 seconds. But over the last 20 kilometers, it's been all orange on the front end of the main field. And I think in the back of their minds, Rabbo Bank, Bob, they believe that Last Boom can keep hold of this lead. Well, Rabo Bank's done all of the work honoring the leaders jersey that Lars Boom won yesterday. So, it's great to see Rabo Bank on the front. There's three riders in the break. Vincant Jerome Europa, Leonardo Duk, he's gotten a lot of the king of the mountain points and Sven Van Duzelar. He is the new pro from the Omega squad. But Rabo Bankank has got this in well underhand. It's only a minute and 22 second gap with 30 km to go. Let's not forget there's a very tough climb to the finish and a breakaway can lose a lot of time on this finishing climb. >> Yes, we're looking at the riders from Rabbank here at the front end of the main field. We've had some magnificent images coming from the the Criterium Duden and because for the first time in its history, the race is being put out in high definition HD pictures of this magnificent part of the Alps. We can see the main field still not really chasing in earnest. I think everyone a little bit reticent about this final climb of the day as we make our way up to the small town of Sierre de Sachurus. And here are the three leaders that we're talking about. Duk from Coffeeis. He's been a professional for a long time. Turned professional way back in 2005. He has in fact in the past been a winner of a stage of the Valta Espña. As you mentioned, Van Duseler, the rider in third position now from team Omega Farmeral Lotto. He's a young rider as is Van Son Jerome who rides for team Uropka. They have been out since the very first few kilometers of this race. They escaped after 8 1/2 kilometers. Duk has taken all of the mountain points so far. There's been three mountains that the riders have crossed over. So, he'll be looking at trying to take himself the lead in the King of the Mountains classification at the end of today's stage. But Bob, it really is. There's going to be a showdown on this climb because the final climb of the day up to S Pierre de Chartreuse is around about 12 kilometers and an average gradient of 5%. 12 km. There'll be a lot of sorting and the GC riders will have to get near the front. I have a feeling that Alexander Vinukurov is looking at the lead of Lars Boom. It's only 2 seconds. If he can get a little bit of a gap, I will not be surprised to see Vin Kurov go for the stage win and get the jersey. >> Yeah, I think Vin Kurov is looking to make a statement here in the Criterium Dina. The final climb of the day, 12 km, that's around about 7 mi. We're currently 30 km to go to the finish, which is 18 mi of racing and still a lot of serious racing to be done. Team BMC moving to the front. They'll be looking today after the interest of their big man, Cadell Evans, who also, I think, is in good form. He's performed every time he's come out this year. His preparation for the tour to France has been slightly different this year, and I think he's a lot more relaxed than he has been in in previous seasons. >> Most definitely not doing the Judy talia this year. Cadell Evans and looking to the smaller stage races to build his form before July and then come perfectly time it perfect and that's when you have a good tour to France. He was able to do that a few years ago. He was second overall and the year before that. But it's been a while since he's been able to get up there on the podium of the tour to France. So I think Cadel Evans has a great chance to do something special in this year's tour. >> I think he he showed that he's got good form in the individual time trial yesterday. He'll be looking to the longer time trial in a couple of days time. That's much more suited to his capabilities. but also riders like Robert Hessing will be looking to fine-tune his preparation for the tour. That's really very much what the criterium doino is very much all about. As we head now down towards the the start of the climb, Sierre de Charter is looming on the horizon. We'll take a very short break and come back with more action. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob [music] Ultra on versus the superior light beer. Perfectly balanced for the [music] ultralife and brought to you by Physique. Check out Physique's new highperformance R1 and R3 road shoes at physique.com. Welcome back to the opening road stage of this year's Criterium Dofun as we rejoin the leaders who are now starting to lose an awful lot of their advantage. The three leaders, we're looking at Leonardo Duk here in the red jersey of Coffeidus. He's in 49th place overall. lost 21 seconds. But I think really, Bob, that the interesting thing about that prologue is it didn't really open up the gaps as a prologue very often does. And there's 168 riders in almost exactly the the the one minute margin separating them from the leaders. So, anything could happen on this final climb of the day. And you see the yellow jersey there next to the time gap of the riders in the front, meaning that man in the red, who was the best placed rider in the prologue from this group of three. He is the provisional leader on the road. But uh with 25ks to go, I don't think Rabel Bank, who's on the front of the Pelaton and have been throughout the proceedings, will have too much trouble closing that gap down. That gives them uh the chance to defend the jersey of Lars Boo, but it also keeps Robert Hassin perhaps their best chance for the overall standings, keep him in a good position, keep him out of trouble and wait for the launch pad on the last last climb to S Pierre de Shantru. It's going to be a great finishing climb and uh I want everybody to watch Alexander Vinukurov, the man in the light blue jersey. If he has the legs, he will be attacking on today's stage. >> Well, just looking at the front end of the main field, you can see the orange jerseys of team Rabber Bankank. They're defending the man who wears yellow today, and that of course is Lars Boom. But queuing up behind them, Bob, I could see Liquigas of Ivan Basso in the pale green jerseys there. A little bit further back, you've got the BMC racing team. They're looking after Cadel Evans and Teastana in a big long line as well in their turquoise jerseys. They're looking after the interests of the man you feel is going to attack on the final climb of the day, Alexander Vinukurov. Well, it's a perfect climb for Vinu Kurov. It's 12 km long, but it's only a category 2. It's not a beyond category, not above the tree line. So, uh, in the past, it's been an ideal launch pad for the aggressive riding style of Alexander Venic. He's a good climber, but he has incredible power. He's got a great kick at the end of big races like this, and he's been consistently solid throughout the season. He hasn't had a huge result yet. So I think he's looking to do something in this race to do and watch for Venu Kurov to use the last climb as a launch pad for something special on today's stage. >> As everybody knows, it's a very strange start to a race like the Criterium Duda with a massive big climb down towards the end. 25 kilometers to go to the finish. That's approximately 17 miles of racing. You might just notice, well, you could have noticed the red, white, and blue jersey at the back of the main field. Well, that's Thomas Vogler, who I'd have to say this year, Bob, is having one of his best ever seasons. He's won eight races so far. And the red, white, and blue jersey is an indicator that he of course is the French national road racing champion. >> Vocar on fire so far this year. He's had great results, very consistent throughout the year. He was also a stage winner of the Tour to France last year. So we'll see if he can do something like that, replicate that. And he's become an attacker. He's not doesn't worry about the overall standings anymore. He goes out and tries to win stages and he's become a very successful professional realizing what his limitations are in a long 3-week Grand Tour. He's been actually able to be a lot more successful in his career. So, it's a good it's a good sign that Vocler is becoming a mature professional and doing his best job. And uh this is our breakway of three. They've been out since the beginning and now that gap is inside of one minute. Duke still clinging on to the yellow jersey, losing a few seconds to Lars Boom in yesterday's prologue, but uh I think it's going to be a a reshuffleling of the deck before we get to the finish line. Yeah, as we look at the three leaders here, maybe just a brief moment to remind ourselves that we actually started in Alvareville this morning that hosted the Olympic Games back in 1992. And there was a special presentation on the start line this morning. They gave us some replica medals to three gold medalists from the Olympic Games, Karen Thomas of the United Kingdom, Bradley Wiggins, who's won three gold medals at the Olympic Games throughout his career, and of course the reigning Olympic champion Sammy Sanchez. Just in the distance there, you might just notice at the big mountains of the charters and that's where we're heading to in a few moments time and that's when the race will start to kick up towards the high spots of today's event. So with Rubber Bank still firmly on the front end of the main field, we'll take a very short break. I'll be back shortly. straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros, compete against local cyclists, and track your performance. Grab your GPS device and get started at straa.com/ver. Straa, built for cyclists. So, the three leaders now approaching 12 1/2 miles to go to the finish, 20 km. And in fact, they've nudged up their advantage defraction there to a minute and 5 seconds. And I would think that, Bob, is the real reason for that is because the main field now know that they've got these men within their grasp. They can pull them back into the fold anytime that they want to. Well, when we see the attacking on the final climb for a stage win or possibly the leader jersey in any of these big bike races, the advantage of the breakaway plummets precipitously and 104 is a gap. I'm a little bit surprised that they've uh gotten a little bit more of an advantage here, but once the fireworks start from the Pelaton, that gap will come down immediately. 20 km or about 12 miles to the finish line, most of it uphill. Yeah. So, most of the work has been done by this team, team Rabbank in the orange jerseys, the the Dutch team, but it's a multinational team they brought here this afternoon and to look after one man, that man there in the yellow jersey, winner last year of the opening stage of Parinise. And here the leader as we look at the green jersey on the shoulders of Alexander Vinurov and he's wearing the points leaders jersey for his second place finish yesterday. He's only looking for two seconds and I'm sure Bob that that man is nurturing thoughts of grabbing the yellow jersey at the end of the day. Well, it wouldn't surprise me if Raabang hadn't gone and reconed the final climb and said to Lars Boom, "You have a great chance to keep the jersey for another day. We're going to do the work. We'll keep the breakaway in check, but it's up to you to defend that jersey." And I think Lars Boom hoping to keep that. He is a solid climber. It's not a above category climb. So it's not the high mountains where the pure climbers can rule. So Lars Boom with a chance and Rabel Bank has done all the work. And it'll be up to Kynink to cover the moves. But Lars Boom in the last few kilometers up to himself to to vend that jersey. Well, >> there's 20 kilometers to go to the finish now for the the main field. That's 12 and a half miles of racing. We rejoin the three leaders just on the front here. Van Jerome, the rider in the green jersey of Europe car. Well, he's only had one victory to his name this year, and that was a small race in Britany called the Trobo Leon. A very difficult race on a short climb and so he may well be feeling that he might have the legs a little bit later on just to test the waters with these three riders who've basically been his mates for the last about 120 kilometers as they've ridden together since the 8 12 kilometer part of the race. When you get into a breakaway like this, Bob, you actually have to work together as friends until it comes to the point where you have to decide how am I going to win. Oh, it's always interesting to see when the riders cooperation disintegrates into aggression. They start to attack each other on the end. This stage a little bit different because of the finishing climb. We often times see the opening stages a little bit flatter and this is a really mountainous stage to start off the open racing of this year's criterium to do. So, a little bit different script for the riders to face, but it's always intriguing to see when the cooperation starts and the aggression begins. >> I mean, look at these pictures, Bob. These are magnificent. This is an incredible backdrop. We're looking here at the Charter Mountains and the race where where we finished today at S Pierre in fact was a small town that was founded way back in 1084 by St. Bruno who was a member of the Chartreuse monks and of course they they cured they made that special little leure that you somewhat enjoy. >> Well, it's a it has curative powers the lure they produce there and it came from this very isolated part of France a thousand years ago. So, uh, it's a legendary lure and quite tasty, [laughter] >> but it really is not much time for the riders to think about any of that kind of stuff. They've got to think about how they're going to get their bodies up what is going to be a rather testing climb. It's a 12 kilometer climb up to the finish. That's around about 7 miles. And it should take them, I would say, something like around about 20 minutes cuz as you said, Bob, it's not a massive big mountain and it but its average gradient is around about 4 and a half%. Hats off to Rabo Bank though in the orange jerseys on the front here. They've done a great job so far. Well, they bring their a lot of their tour to France stars to this event. They have guys like Martin Chilingi, Lewis Leon Sanchez in their number. Hesync of course is their GC hope. Lars boom the winner of the prologue. Grecian Nearman, Juan Manuel Garate, Paul Martins and this is a very solid squad. So the A team of Relbank here plying their trade on the open roads of the criterium dofina. >> Well, the roads have been resurfaced and I wonder if that's for the arrival of the criterium dofina. on the front in the red jersey, Leonardo Duket. As I said before, he's been a professional since 2005. He doesn't win a lot of races, but he did win a little while back a stage of the Vela Espña. I'm surprised to see him in a breakaway like this cuz he's much more renowned as a a sprinter as we make our way down these magnificent gorgees of the Charter. We'll take another very short break. Very soon, we'll be back on the slopes of the climb. So, a little shake of the hands there. The breakaway is over and out now. And they're very shortly back into the main field. And there's a different colored jerseys on the front now. It's the red and black jerseys of BMC racing team from the United States. It's a Swiss bicycle manufacturer, but it's mainly a team which is organized from the United States. There's a a quick replay of the three laders congratulating each other of uh a good work good job of work done. >> Well, no one sitting on there, no one trying to take advantage of one rider or the other. All three of them shared the work throughout the stage and uh that's always nice for the people in the breakaway when one rider is sitting on and the other two are doing the work not quite as equitable as it could be. So, a good breakaway on today's stage. >> A very good breakaway. Just in the middle behind the yellow jersey rider there, you might just have spotted a red and black jersey. That was Cadell Evans sitting comfortably on the wheel of last boom. But when you see the back end of the main field like this, Bob, you get a a realization it is very fast indeed. 10 km to the finish line for the Pelaton. Just over 6 miles strung out at the back. Couple of uh false flats and leveling off a little bit before uh before the the the climb really starts to bite. And so the Pelaton still completely com contained and in one giant group, but uh short in short order that's going to change. So Thomas Fogler, that's good riding right there. He was at the back of the field just moments ago. Now he's right in the front in the red, white, and blue jersey for Europa. That's the national champion of France. >> Nice quick look at the the river there that streams its way down this valley of the charters as the main field picks up a lot of impetus. We're not on the steepest part of the climb, but we have started to go uphill. It's a false flat here with an average gradient of four or 5%. But it looks as if BMC are racing on the front in the red and black jerseys here have decided today they're going to really put the hammer down. You can see the whiter jerseys as well over on the left hand side. That's HTC High Road. They're also looking after their man Constantine Sifsoff. But team Rabbank have still not given up the job either. They're staying at the front end of the main field and their job is to look after the overall leader Lars Boom. And as you said, Robert Hink. Robert Hayink looking good there so far for Rabble Bank. Rabble Bank not uh totally on the front. You can see some of the riders now. These are the men from Rabble Bank that have been doing the work throughout the day. Leonardo Duk, that's the man they were chasing and they will pedal into the finish line. 9 km just under about 6 miles before the finish. So everybody should be able to finish within good order on today's stage. I have to say our helicopter pilot is doing a fantastic job here in the Criterium Judina here this afternoon. Look at these gorges that this man is trying to find. And he's looking for the main field. And if we just go through this little bit of a a gorge cliff here, we should find the main field still very much locked together. Still under the control on the front of the men in BMC Racing Strip, red and black, keeping control of the front end of the main field. Thomas Vogler, as you mentioned, Bob, there in the red, white, and blue jersey over to the right hand side, the French national champion. He's ridden nearly all of the stage at the back. Now that we've come to the critical part of the event, bang, all of a sudden there he is. That is good heads up riding by Vocler. When you sit at the back, you stay out of trouble. Theoretically, most of the action right behind the tip of the spear rabbank keeping Robert Hayync well protected as well as the race leader Lars Boom. But BMC now has come to the front. They bring a solid squad here to the doofine. And they're on the front. So Cadel Evans must have told his teammates, I feel good. I'm going for it. Get to the front. Do the work. I'll do the rest. Well, you can see the fractures starting to appear in that main field now. That's all because of the pressure on the front end by the teams of the men who are trying to place their climbers in an ideal position to start the most difficult part of this climb. In fact, I would say Bob about 40 or 50 riders have already been tailed off. Tailing off now has begun. So the culling process is quite brutal in the bike race, especially in the mountains at this level of the profession. A lot of riders in this event trying to impress the selectors from their teams for the tour to France. Of course, the big stars trying to hone their form and I think we're going to have a very explosive finish here and a lot of riders queuing up there. Alexander Vino Kurov, he's in the green jersey as points leader that was given in the prologue yesterday because he was second on the stage and of course you can't wear both jerseys when you're the race leader. But the race leader LZ Boom looking very solid at the front end of the main field. You recognize him in the yellow jersey. His team at Rabo Bank have done an excellent job all throughout the stage here to keep him at the front end of the main field. When you're the leader of a of a of a race, when you're the leader of the team, the teammates will ride in front of you to make sure that you don't actually ride that much in the wind and it makes a big difference at the end of the stage. Oh, it makes a huge difference throughout the day's proceedings. Each each kilogjle you can uh save turns into power for the finish. Each calorie that you can conserve. It gives you a little bit extra at the finish line. The helicopter pilot threading the needle through these gorgeous, absolutely beautiful day of bike racing. >> As the Criterium Dofphane gets out onto the open road for the first time, we go right into the very heart of the Chartro Mountains. A high spot of the race with a second cat climb to finish off. It will be a grueling day. Wednesday, the [music] NHL Stanley Cup final presented by Geico continues on Versus. At 7:30, it's game four between the Canucks and the Bruins. See who takes the next step towards [music] hockey immortality. History will be made on Versus. 7 km to go. That's four miles of racing and the aggression has already started. This looks like Cifoff jumping off the front end of the main field. Very quickly taken up by Omega Farmer Lotto. This is where the aggression is starting. Tony Martin, a teammate there. Here's the damage at the back of the field. A lot of riders getting tailed off there. Mikuel Golas already dropped. A lot of the BMC riders, their job is done for today. It's up to Cadel Evans, their team leader now, to stay in the front and match these accelerations. But when Zivoth goes, great climber. You have to be able to respond to that. >> I'm a bit shocked to see Haimar Zubelia going backwards there for team Radio Shack. And one thing has been noticeable at the front end of the main field, Bob. There has been an absence of RadioShack. And I'm surprised because Yanni Brachovich has said that he wants to ride well in this race, but he didn't have the team to pace him up to the front end of the pack. But the damage is seriously being done here. Riders dropping off all of the time. They're just slipping away there. That was Rammenus Nadus. And he's a new rider on team Gin Sevel. And this is Sebastian wearing the King of the Mountains jersey. His teammates had a bit of a laugh about that last night, by the way, Bob, because he's probably one of the worst climbers in the whole of the main field. But he got that points jersey in the King of the Mountains on the time trial yesterday. A little cat for to start out the proceedings of yesterday's prologue. So, they took the time to give the King of the Mountain uh for today's stage. >> That's going to change though before the end of the day. >> That will certainly change before the end of the day. So Constantine sifts off as soon as the climb started to bite a fraction. He decided he was going to put the cat amongst the pigeons and leapt out of the front end of the main field. You can see a small splinter group now trying to get across. And this again looks like Chris Anker Sorenson for team Saxobat. You recognize the way he nods his head there. That's a typical style of his. Team Leopard Trek trying to come across there. They have Bryce Fyu stage winner in the tour to France in their numbers for this for this event. So Bryce Fyu maybe asking his teammates to do a little bit of work and give him a chance in for the stage win. >> Well, Jurgen Vanderbrook looks to be the man who's come across here to join this twoman leading group as Chris Anker Sorenson realizes this is a very dangerous part of the course. 6 kilometers to go. Four miles of racing till we get to the summit. And I have to say Bob, it's all uphill now. >> It's all uphill now. Looks a little bit like Fabian Vegman from Leobart Trek. Another attack there going across. That's Thomas Vocler in the red and blue jersey trying to close that gap. So Vocler from the back of the field to off of the front. Now he's chasing two very strong riders, Jurgen Vandenbrook and Constantine Zivv. We have a bike race on our hands now. 6 km to go just under about four miles. Well, Thomas Vocal obviously thinks that's a very dangerous move with Cifoff and Jurgen Vandenbrook getting off the front end of the main field. And it's a very difficult thing to ride across a gap of 10 to 12 seconds on a climb like this. An attempt there of a move by Alexander Vinukurov in the the pale green jersey. Well, it's all coming very much closer together now as it looks as if Vocler is almost onto the tail of the two leaders. >> Vocler closing the gap now. He's just tacked on to the wheel of Cifs off. Jurgen Vandenbrook a big revelation in last year's tour to France. He was fourth here to start his momentum for last year's summer and he is continuing to ride well in this year's edition. So, watch out for Jurgen Vandenbrook. Well, this is the pain at the back end of the main field and looks like Dave Zabriski there not enjoying this climb. Little bit further up wearing number 22. That is the man who rode a very good time trial yesterday, John Dean. I think this is a young man who's got a big future ahead of him and he comes from a pedigree of racing on the track and that's the white jersey as best young rider. He's right on the wheel of Yvon Baso continuing his struggles this year on the bike. He had a big crash in training a few weeks ago and he obviously has still not recuperated from that. Baso trying to find form but really struggling in the doofine. >> Well, there's a lot of riders now finding this climber starting to bite as we move our way up towards the front. We're looking at a threeman leading group, but they haven't got that much of an advantage around about 10 to 15 seconds. I'm wondering, Bob, do you think this was the right time for Sifsoft to go or should he have waited till he got a bit closer to the finish? >> I think that's a pretty good move there. We got 5 km, just over three miles now to the finish. He was also joined by Vocler and Vandenbrook. So, this is a very dangerous group. Looking over their shoulder, the other GC contenders, it's still a weak racing to go. So, they don't want to expend all of their energy on this climb. Francisc Rabon is the man being uh uh reported to be in the break. We think it's off, but maybe that's Rabon. Both on the HTC High Road Squad, however, well, the main field, I think the main field are turning off a fraction now. They're probably a little bit concerned about the severity of that attack which came from the two riders as soon as the climb started to to go up uphill in earnest. And Thomas Vogler, he's very keen to make sure this breakaway succeeds. That's definitely that's definitely Constantine Sifsoff on the front end of the main field. Vanderbrook in second position. Voca, it looks as if there is no organized chase at the front end of the main field. >> No, good point there. They're fanned out across the road kind of gauging each other. They still have 5 km to go there. So there's quite a ways. Radio Shack making an aggressive move there. Team Sky on the wheel. Veno Kurov always in perfect position. Thomas Vogler making a good move to get across to this dangerous breakaway. Jurgen Vandenbrook one of the best climbers in the business. He was criticized throughout the season by the Belgian press saying he hadn't arrived in good shape. But now he's proving to be that for the tour to France he is going to be ready and willing contender in that. >> Well Radio Shack red white jersey sitting on the front. Now that is obviously for their man Yanni Brachovich and they feel that he's got the form. He's the defending champion of the criterium duden and as you said yesterday Bob the only man last year to seriously give a beating to Alberto Conidor especially on the slopes of Aldz which was not included in the tour to France. It was in the doof last year. So for Yanni Brachovich that was a great ride. >> Well there is the yellow jersey. I thought he was going to hold on to his overall lead here this afternoon but obviously he just doesn't have the legs. He had explosive legs yesterday for that short three-mile individual time trial. But this climb is proving to be somewhat of a beast. And these three riders are starting to open up a very serious gap, but they're being chased down by team Radio Shack. And it looked like Ziv in a little bit of trouble there. Jurgen Vandenbrook making the pace. Vocar able to handle that acceleration. And there is the Pelaton going through one of the many tunnels on this final climb. Still in a bit of a long line. It's it's this is Kristoff Reblown. He's having a tough time. He's the number 68 rider there. If you go a little bit further back, we'll see our airsw race leader Larsboom now losing that jersey. >> Well, it's the pressure of the chase after these riders who went out on the attack. And I have to say, Bob, I think you were right when you chose the leader of team Rubber Bank as being Robert Hessing because he is very comfortably sitting in the main part of that chase group. Robert Hessing looking continuing to be better and better in the big races. Vocar now big acceleration putting some daylight between himself and Jurgen Vandenbrook. Ziffsov back in this chase group here. But Thomas Vogler, he's had such a great season and he continues to have good form on today's stage. He's about four kilometers, just a little bit more, just over two miles between himself and what would be an incredibly glorious stage win. >> Well, I'm a bit This is a bit of a shock to me because Tony Martin is a rider I expected to be riding well here. He didn't perform in the time trial yesterday, Bob. I can only think that he must have some kind of illness. >> Well, Tony Martin had a very disappointing time trial. He's a great specialist in that discipline, but he lost a lot of time to the stage winner Lars Boom. He's accustomed to dominating the time trials that we've seen Tony Martin able to do. He has always been good in the climbs as well. He won Perry Nice and it's amazing to see him struggle so hard on the opening stage of the Dofina. Well, Thomas Vocar has got himself some serious confidence here, Bob. He's riding away. He's now left Vandenbrook behind. Sifstoff couldn't stay with him. Vocal has had his best season since he turned professional back in 2001. We all remember when he wore the uh the leader jersey in the tour to France for 10 days in a row only to have it taken off his back by Lance Armstrong after a very good defense of that position. But in recent years, he's ridden better and better and improved as [music] a professional bike rider. He's won eight races so far this season, including starting off in the Tour of the Mediterranean, but more recently in May, he won himself the four days of Dunkirk after winning one of the very difficult stages there and two stage wins in Perry Nice, the only rider able to do that on this year's edition. So Thomas Vogler perhaps the top professional in French cycling. Vandenbrook clawing his way back up to getting in front of Vocler now. But the Pelaton hot on his heels, Radio Shack doing a great job to keep Yanni Brachovich in position chasing down this very dangerous little move. Well, I noticed one of the riders in that group behind Bob in the dark blue jersey of Team Sky, Bradley Wiggins. You'd mentioned yesterday in the time trial, you thought he was looking very lean and mean as if he's really prepared himself properly for the Dofun and of course to go on to the tour to France. >> Well, no stress for Bradley Wiggins in the the races leading up to the tour. He didn't do the geodala this year. He's changed his preparation for the tour and he's coming into this race with some very good form and I'm certain he wants to carry that through to the tour. Well, there's a lot of damage being done at the back because number 81 Robert Hessing is also in difficulty here in the Cretium Dofane. And I have to say there's some big boys that are getting themselves a real hard ride up this climb. We're going to take another very short break. We got one lone leader with [music] lots of attacks coming behind. Welcome back now as we come inside of 3 kilometers to go. Two miles of racing to the top of this climb and the man carrying number 31 in his bike is Jurgen Vandenbrook. Bit of a revelation in the tour to France last year. He rode exceptionally well. The Belgians have criticized him. It's really tough being a Belgian professional cyclist cuz the Belgian press, if you don't perform every time you come out, you get a serious slamming. But Vandenbrook, I think, here is answering the questions. Coming on to form fantastically. Here is Sky doing a huge turn of work on the front of the Pelaton. Cadell Evans third wheel in the black and red jersey in perfect position. So Cadell continuing to ride well. Robert Hayesync. It's very surprising to see him in so much trouble at the be at the towards the end of this climb. >> Well, this looks like Bzen Hogan on the front. He's doing the pacemaking for Bradley Wiggins who I think is in great form. Let's not forget in a couple of days time Bob around Grenobyl there's a very long individual time trial and that will give some of the guys in this breakaway here a chance to reshuffle the top end of the overall leaderboard. But if they want to do that they've got to do one thing and that's pull this man back into the fold. He looks good and he doesn't look like a man who's weakening inside 2 km. They got clear daylight. You can't see the group behind and he'll get the red kite here with 1 kmter to go about 600 yds before the finish line. Jurgen Vandenbrook is absolutely flying. He has demolished the field. Very aggressive throughout this final climb and Jurgen Vandenbrook has come on to good form. This is a great ride by the young Belgian. No, it certainly is. He had a quiet start to the season, Bob, with a second place in the Rutel Soul, but he's not really done anything since the towards the end of last year. And let's not forget last season he finished fourth overall in the criterium dofini. >> Very select group here. Small group. There's Yanni Brachovich the defending champion from team Radio Shack. And this is a very small group. One rider still left. That looks like Zivaw from HTC. So good riding. He was aggressive early in the climb and he's been able to find the back of this field and give him a chance to at least stay within striking distance of this man Jurgen Vanderbrook the race leader. Well, he keeps looking around the corner hoping to see the Flam Rouge, the red kite, which will indicate. And there it is. 1,000 meters to go. And this man now, he's coming up to the really steep part of the climb. He's got to keep this rhythm going. He's got his jersey flapping in the wind. That's not very aerodynamic, but he doesn't seem to be too concerned. Concentrated. Looks good. Really quick cadence there. Turning the gear over out of the saddle and doing a sprint here. Now it's starting to kick. This is the steepest part of the climb so far, but Jurgen Vandenbrook continuing to turn that gear over. Little chaser here right behind trying to come back across. So great stage so far. Kristoff Karen I think is the rider from Europa car in the green and black. >> Yep. He's in second position out on the road now. Jurgen Vanderbrook needs a bit of time cuz he lost a fair amount of time in the prologue yesterday. He finished 15th and lost himself 14 seconds on Lars Boom but only 12 seconds off Alexander Vinurov. Vinurov will be wondering whether or not it's time for him to try and make a move out of this pack. But I don't think anybody's going to see Jurgen Vanderbrook again here this afternoon. Great pedaling cadence here for Vandenbrook streaking to the finish line. A quick look over his left shoulder to see where the finish line is. Now he's starting to struggle a little bit and this is where it gets steep and hard, but Vandenbrook looking really really strong so far. On the back, Paco Rodriguez coming out of the front there. Now that is a good move and he came in at the very last moment as a lastm minute leader of team Katusha. But now on the front in the green jersey, this is the move we were expecting from Alexander Vinakurov. There's a good crowd here to the top of this climb to S Pierre de Chartreas. We're looking at about 500 m still to go. Seems an awful long kilometer this Bob. >> Walken Rodriguez. He's got an explosive acceleration on a climb like this, especially for the finish. And there he is in the middle of the screen there in the white and blue jerseys there of the KUSA squad. In third wheel there in the green jersey was Ven Kurov trying to come across with it looked like Bradley Wigan. looked very much like the shape of the British rider Bradley Wiggins trying to get himself across the gap and he realizes this is important. But Rodriguez, as you've said, is explosive on a climb like this. He's an extremely good climber. Now it's starting to get a bit grippy for Jurgen Vanderbrook. This is the moment when all of a sudden those legs say, "Please stop hurting." >> Yes, stop hurting. And Rodriguez in the meantime has already caught Kristoff Karen. So Rodriguez streaking across now. Let's see if Hannen Brookke can dig deep and try to keep his his lead. 200 meters to go now for the chase group. >> Well, there we are getting inside the 150 m to go. Nobody's going to trouble this man this afternoon because Jurgen Vanderbrook is coming up to the finishing line. One quick look over his shoulder. But Paul Rodriguez is very close indeed. But he's not going to change the result here this afternoon because it's going to be the win here for Jurgen Vanderut. Then we got the jersey closed. Did you young man? Second across the line is Rodriguez. Coming up now in third place is Evans Vinurov. Vinakurov could very well be in the leader jersey this afternoon. >> Vin Kurov doing a good ride. Fourth on the stage. There's Vocar Brochovich coming in now with a good ride. 16 seconds down. And I think it will be Alexander Vinurov, our new leader. Long ways down the road is Lars Boom. Well, this small climb, a second category climb up to San Pierre Desartas after 144 kilometers, Bob really has started to open up the gaps on only the first road stage of this year's criterium dof and no Robert Hyn so far. So Hayesync, the leader of Rabel Bank, has lost a lot of time on today's stage. That man very aggressive followed the move by Zivv. He was joined by Vocler and then he launched from that. He had great legs today and timed it to perfection. A great stage win by Jurgen Vandenbrook. Oh, I think you can see the elation in his face here. He is extremely happy. You know, he doesn't win an awful lot of bike races, Bob. He's a very solid rider. He's third, fourth, very, very often high up in the overall standings, but to get the emotion of crossing the line first is something extremely special. >> Well, watch for Jurgen Vanderbrook a little bit later in the summer at the Tour to France. It's always good to get a stage win. The morale just skyrockets. He was great in the tour last year. Jurgen Vanderbrook, that was a great ride. >> No, it certainly was. But I think what is got what is appeared today, Bob, is we're going to have a fantastic criterium duffion because a lot further down the road and let's not forget the final weekend. We've got two big mountain stages with one of those being the queen of stages. This is only really just the ordev. It's the first uh first plate of first plate of a long menu. >> Oh, most definitely. This is a one climb and we'll see in a few days time exactly how this shakes out. >> Well, coming across the line there, there was the man who started in the yellow jersey, Lars Boom. He's lost two and a half minutes and any hope of staying in the overall lead tonight and it's not been a great day for team Rabo Bankank. So as we look at Jurgen Vanderbrook coming up to the finish line, what a great win that was for him. Perfectly timed. We'll take another short [music] break and when we come back we'll be with the presentation, the overall standings and the podiums. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Maltra on versus the superior light beer. Perfectly balanced for the ultralife [music] and brought to you by Strava. Built for the avid cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver. [music] And by Clean Bottle, the bottle that [music] unscrews at both ends for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI Performance Bikes or atbottle.com. Clean bottle. Ride clean. Welcome back to Sierre Dart. I have to say that was a very dramatic lastminute attack by Jurgen Vanderbrook. Bob when he came up to the line he really was excited. >> Jurgen Vanderbrook showing the joy of what it means to win a stage. Very few wins to his credit. A great bike racer from Belgium facing a lot of pressure from the press at home but delivering big on the goods here in the doofine on stage number one. >> Yeah. So let's have a look at the results of the stage. [music] First of all, Jurgen Vanderbrook getting that victory 6 seconds ahead of Yokim Rodriguez who really did make a final dash to the line. Cadet Evans in third place. Nicholas [music] Roach in fifth. A little bit further down there, Edward Bzenhogen in sixth place. Further back, ninth for Thomas Bogler and Yanni [music] Brachovich just creeping inside of the top 10. So I don't think the Michelob Ultra ride of the day [music] can go to anybody else other than the man who won the stage, Bob Jurgen. Vandenbrook. What a good move. Great move by [music] Vandenbrook being able to hold off the charging Pelaton for the last few kilometers. He made the attack against Thomas Vocler. [music] Vocer could not respond and Jurgen Vandenbrook streaking to the finish line. Great ride by the Omega leader. Yep. For the Michelob Ultra ride of the day. Well, climbing on to the top step of the podium. Most of his victories in the past, Bob, have been in small kess races in Belgian circuit races, but I think this will probably be one that he really cherishes. >> Well, this is a great result for Jurgen Vandenbrook. The pressure for Belgian riders is incredible, and the Belgian press can be very critical. So, a lot of times you see as much relief on the face of the Belgian athletes when they win a race as joy for the victory. And now the [music] relief is starting to be replaced by joy. A great result for Jurgen Vanderbrook. Well, he's going to have to sit in the main field tomorrow and try and recuperate from that ride because the day after tomorrow, there's a very important individual time trial around Grenobyl. But for the moment, I think Jurgen Vanderbrook is just going to savor the moment. So, here is confirmation of the overall results. Alexander Vinorov [music] is the new leader of the Dofina with a 5-second advantage over Jurgen Vandenbrook Fidel Evans still looking like a threat in third place and Edward Bosenhagen in fifth. A little further down, Nicholas Roach is in sixth. Yanni Brackovich [music] up to seventh place overall and Thomas Vogler rounding out the top 10. Bob couple of notables, [music] Robert Hing having a tough day, goes down to 43rd overall. Matt Bush a decent ride. Lars [music] Boom the overnight leader lost a lot of time 58. Dave Zabriski losing time. Looking forward to the time travel in a couple of days, but Ivon Baso having a horrible day finds himself at the end of the stage in 116th overall. >> Well, one of the older ambassadors to the sport at 37 years of age, Alexander Vinurov, we knew Bob in the back of our minds that he was looking for this yellow jersey today. Had a great prologue, so the legs are there. And Lars Boom had a very tough day losing over two minutes to this man, Alexander Vinurov. didn't get the stage win, but he does get the yellow jersey. So, great riding by the Kazak on the Astana squad. >> So, as Alexander Vinurov moves away from the podium, let's just catch up with the winner of today's stage, Jurgen Vandenbrook, and see what he has to say. >> Yeah, it's my first win and then uh straight the first mountain stage or small mountain stage in Dofane. Um it's good for my morale because I'm five weeks from home with all big trainings in the mountains. I didn't have rest the last five weeks. So, it the legs were not super, but uh they said when I attacked it was really strong and then it's it's incredible for my morale to win here the first days during the race. Um I had the legs were okay and I thought why not attack in the final if I'm good and then I saw the HDC guy going and my teammate Rulons he said come on go. So uh when he said I went and uh in the beginning it was really a block until Tom Vlad came and then uh the group almost came back and then I said okay I'll play all or nothing when they came on 10 m and uh they were a block behind me. So >> certainly sounds like a very relieved Jurgen Vandenbrook. Well don't forget the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra continues tomorrow at 5 when it's stage two of the criterium dudopune. And for a full [music] schedule of what we cover here on Versus, log on to NBCports.com. And don't forget, you can also [music] follow us on Twitter at vsscycling. And don't forget to tune in later tonight at 7:30 as Geico presents game three of the Stanley Cup final between the [music] Kuks and the Bruins. Congratulations to Jurgen Vanderbrook then on his win and to Alexander Vinurov for taking the overall lead. Until tomorrow night, I'm Paul Show and on behalf of Bob Ro saying see you soon. Leaving the mountains behind [music] and heading into the gastronomic capital of France. This flat stage should be for the sprinters. However, the tough climb to the finish could create a bit of a surprise. This year's opening road stage of the criterium dofane wasted no time sorting out the contenders. A full day of climbing culminated with a summit finish and shattered the pelaton. Emerging from [music] the pack was Belgian Jorgen Vandenbrook whose violent attack was too much for the group to handle. Jurgen Vandenbrook is absolutely flying. He has demolished the field. >> They said when I attacked it was really strong and then it's incredible for my morale to win [music] here the first days. >> Tour hopeful Alexander Vinorov was strong on the day and landed himself the yellow jersey as the new race leader. Today the mountain climbers will take a backseat as a flat [music] stage should set up for a sprint and American fastman Tyler Farah will aim for a confidence boosting win for the upcoming tour to France. Stage two of [music] the criterium dudet is next on This is a >> [music] >> Today we leave [music] the chartres and the Alps behind us as we move in a westerly direction towards Leon and the home of some of the best cuisine in the world. Hello and welcome to epic [music] cycle presented by Michelob Ultra. I'm Paul Sherin and alongside me Bob Ro. Bob I have to say yesterday with the first mountaintop finish in the Dofun we we learned a lot of things. Well, we learned that some riders are not ready for the doofina. Gayen and Baso got dropped, but Jurgen Vandenbrook had a great ride, winning the stage. He was fifth in last year's tour to France, and he's on form to do that or better in this year's tour. And another man who's on form, of course, is Alexander Vinurov because he reported present and correct at the top of the climb to take the overall lead at the end of stage one. Alexander Vinikurov, one of the veterans of the sport at 37 years of age, is actually starting to look rather fresh. So, the overall standings look like this. Alexander Vinikurov [music] leading Jurgen Vandenbrook by 5 seconds. Cadell Evans looking very dangerous in third place at 7 seconds. A little bit further down. Nicholas Roach looking for that form that he had last year in the tour to France in sixth [music] and rounding out the top 10. Thomas Vogler in 10th place. Bob the Notables. Robert Hasting lose a bit of time. Matthew Buchet riding well. Dave Zabriski lost quite a bit of time but Ivan Baso 116th place 2 and 1/2 minutes behind. >> Absolutely crushed Ivan Basso. I have to say though, today slightly different day for the riders because it's it's basically flat. There's a couple of little ripples out on the course, Bob. A couple of four cat climbs, but it should [music] really be a day for the sprinters. It should be one of the few days for the sprinters in this year's edition of the criterium to do. There's one cat four to start things out of the start town of Vyron. Fairly long stage, mostly flat down in the valleys, not a lot of big climbs. Another cat 4 about halfway through. One more before a long flat run into the finishing town of Leon. But there is a little kick up at the finish. That's a cat for as well. So be careful. Might be a day for the sprinters, but somebody might be able to get away also. >> Yeah, just look at this. This is an ideal day for the sprinters. As you can see, one or two ripples out on the course, but one of our men out on the course has said to us that walking the final kilometer, it might create just a little bit of a surprise when we come into Leon. Well, as we go down to live pictures here, we can see everybody starting to uh really take a serious interest in trying to pull back the threeman breakaway. There's a three-man breakaway currently up the road with a 3minut advantage at 28 kilometers or 18 mi to go. Vanerala is in the break with Martin Jeni and Ra Fu. Bob, you can start to see now that Garin Sevel are taking a serious interest at the front end of the main field and that must be because they feel that Tyler Tyler Farah has got a very good chance of winning today. Tyler Farah has come off of a very heartbreaking geodala where he lost his training partner and very good friend Valtto Veance. And uh inspiration and fitness, I always wonder if it's fitness that wins races or inspiration. When you have both, it's a no-brainer. You're going to win, but I think the inspiration for Tyler Farah might win the day on today's stage. >> You could be very right there. But team coffee, they've got a feeling that their man Sammy Demu has got a chance of winning today as well because he actually came down here two weeks ago to have a look at the finishing climb because although it's supposed to be a day for the sprinters, the final kilometer actually has a couple of nasty little bends in it. So knowing the finish actually might outf fox one or two of the sprinters. Well, it has been rather surprising to see Kofides on the front doing a big turn of work here. They haven't had to let Astana do too much of the work in the last 50 km of the bike race. Kofidis has done a tremendous amount of work to get their man in position to sprint. That would be Sami Dumaland. Up to the breakaway rider, that's Jurgen Vanderala from the Omega team in the blue and white jersey. Bryce Fyu, stage winner in the tour to France in uh Araalis up in Andor a few years ago. Great to see him in the breakaway. He's kind of uh had a strange trajectory since that big win for Bryce Fu. He's bounced around on smaller teams, but this year he signed for the new Leopard Trek squad. And Bryce Fyu, it's great to see him in the breakway on today's stage. I think that these three riders being all of them very competent professionals, it's going to be very tough to catch them before the finish line on today's stage. >> Yeah, all all of these riders, the three riders we're looking at, especially the man at the back there, Martin Jangi, he's had great form over the last couple of months. We saw him riding very well at the Amgen Tour of California. And you're right, Bob, I think these three riders are a very difficult trio to pull back into the fold. The sprinters will have a hard time today. But they have to work hard on these two stages because after that there's not too many flat stages for the sprinters this year. >> Well, this is maybe one out of two chances for the sprinters. But there is a little bit of a kick to the finish line in the last kilometer. Very steep and that's going to be tough for them to gauge exactly when to go and it's just about anybody's bike race on today's stage. Good to see that man in the front Davided Monk Coutier couple of times stage winner in the tour to France in years past and doing the teamwork now. what we presume to be his team leader Sammy Dumolan trying to get a stage win for the French squad and the Dofini means so much to the French teams. You always see them being very aggressive on the stages. >> Well, you talk about an edigmatic bike rider. The man you're talking about in the red and white jersey on the front with the dark sunglasses. David Monuche, he really is a strange bike rider, Bob. He can either ride at the front of the main field or at the back. He cannot ride in the middle. He's just there's a there's a certain amount of fear, isn't there, to riding in the pack. >> Yeah. Oh, absolutely. You're banging handlebars, fighting for position throughout the day. Some guys thrive on that. Other guys seem to want to avoid it. And that man throughout his career, David Monkout has been one of the riders that tries to avoid that. And like you said, he's either off the front, at the front, or at the very back, last man in the Pelaton. >> Right. Well, as we look at the front end of the main field and they're starting to wind this up and hoping for a bunch of sprints as we streak into the streets of Leyon. So, we'll take a very short break and we'll be back shortly. This is the epic cycle presented by [music] Michelobra on Versus the superior light beer perfectly balanced for the ultralife and brought to you [music] by Straa built for the average cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver [music] and by clean bottle the bottle that unscrews [music] at both ends for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI performance bikes or at cleanbottle.com. Clean bottle. Ride clean. Hi, I'm David Miller. I write [music] for and I chose [music] no [singing] >> [music] [singing] [music and singing] [music] >> So looking down at the main field, you can see the Dark blue jerseys at the front there, black and blue jerseys, I should say. Garmin Sevel. They're thinking about the big American sprinter, Tyler Farah, who I think Bob will be inspired to try and get himself a victory here this afternoon. And of course, the finish is not exactly a pure sprinter's finish. It's a strong man's finish, and that's what Tyler Farah has turned out to be over the last couple of seasons. >> Oh, most certainly. He pushed Caendish so close on a very similar finish in the Tour Def France a couple of years ago. He seemed to be the only man in the field capable of matching uh Cavendish's acceleration on that day and it was because of a pretty stiff climb to the finishing line in that stage. So I think that Tyler Farah best chance for sure of this year's doofine for him to get a stage win. The rest of the mountain stages Tyler Farah will not be a factor but in the sprints he's always up there and today might favor his talents a little bit more than the other sprinters. A guy like JJ Hayedo incredibly fast but that's on a dead flat road with a big bunch gallop. I think the script won't be exactly like that on the end of today's stage. >> There was a quick glimpse there of Jurgen Vanderala from team Omega Faralotto. He's a very strong rider. He's no stranger to breakaways either, Bob. As we go through the small town of San Andre Deosi, oh, a crash at the back. This is what always happens if you're not aware coming into town and you don't pay attention. All of a sudden, it looks to me as if the man who went down there very hard indeed was Julian Vermont from team from team Quickstep. A lot of traffic furniture there and that and when the whole pelaton stops, I think Julian more uh discouraged with himself than actually injured on that. Everybody slamming on the brakes and when the rider stops in front of you and you're not ready for it, that's what happens right down on the ground. And uh another liquid gas rider also on the deck there. Just uh that's what happens. You see one long line Indian file of the whole Pelaton with Yoan Vanson on the front. When you come into a little village and everybody slams on your brakes and the accordion effect, the riders in the back always have trouble negotiating those. Sometimes you fall down and get hurt. I don't think there was any injuries on that crash, but that's why it's so important to stay in the front of these very very test testing, turning, twisting, dangerous roads. I always have to say, Bob, it's it always cracks me up when the race referees say shoot a crash without any any incident. And I tell you what, anytime that you do fall down, it absolutely hurts. But look at the pressure that's starting to appear at the front end of the main field now. Because all of a sudden from a bunched main pack across the road, you've got a long line. This line of riders is not very far off being a kilometer long. And that's because of the speed at 25 km to go. 18 mi of racing left. We are looking now at speeds approaching 35 mph. >> Oh yeah, the Pelaton all in one l long. And now there's some splits even coming across here. Looks like Nikki Sorenson, the man in the black shorts and red jersey with that gap trying to close it down. That's a pretty desperate situation, but this breakaway so high powered, such highass riders up in the front. A real desperate chase now before the finishing town of Leon. No, it certainly is. I think somebody's just raised the flag there to say, "Right, this is the real start of the race." about 6 kilometers ago, Bob, as we look at the damage at the back here. 6 km ago, we looked at a time gap of 3 minutes. And in just 6 km, they've wiped off a minute off the advantage of the threeman breakaway. Well, >> this is quite amazing. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a little bit of a crosswind blowing from the left hand side of the riders. You can see him trailed off into the the right hand gutter. So, the indication would be that the bit of a wind battle here shaping up in the finale. And you can see the gaps in the Pelaton. That's because of the pressure of the Garmin Curvell squad at the front and they're really doing a hard turn of work to get Tyler Ferry in position to win the stage. >> Well, I hope he was in position, Bob, because if you're in the wrong position at this time, you will have got really seriously caught out. This is the kind of damage that happens when all of a sudden a team goes to the front and really starts to put the hammer down. And it looks like Danny P of HTC Hyro there, he'd been caught out as well by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You have to ride, and I always say this, Paul, you've got to ride in the first 15 to 20 positions all of the time. Then you don't have the possibility of getting caught out. >> Well, good ride there by the Saxo Bank man just tacked onto the back. That was Nikki Senson. There is a bigger group up in the front. You see just at the top of your screen. That's where you want to be. You want to be in that circle of riders just at the top of the screen. This the chasing groups. When you have to keep on closing those gaps, it's very tough. Well, Rain Tame, one of the riders who knows exactly how to ride in the big mountains. He's got a little bit caught out here as well as we also look at the rider there from Moistar and that's Benata Inosti from Spain. And this is a real panic situation for a lot of riders now as they start to realize this race is seriously splitting up. This is the second main field we're looking at here. It's split up because of the acceleration of team Garmin SEL at the front end of the main field. And there is serious amount of daylight, Bob, between the second group and the leading group of riders. Look at those riders straggling halfway across the graph. They're in no man's land. That is not where you want to be. That's the sky team on the front there trying to close down. That's Gary Thomas and that is Edvald Bohas and Hogan in the white jersey. We thought he might have a chance to win the stage, but they are chasing the leaders. That's Bradley Wiggins now. Desperate situation for the Sky Team. >> Got to say, Bob, they were in the wrong place. They should have realized the wind was going to start to come across and they should have been riding a little bit closer to the front. They should have been paying attention and Team Sky now are on the back foot. But as we have a look at the leading group of three riders, that gap is tumbling dramatically. It's now down to 1 and a half minutes. But the main field is splintering because of the pressure that's come on the front from team Gin Sevel. I wonder if it'll all come back together. We'll find out after the break. >> I'm Kristen Armstrong of Peanut Butter and Co. 2012 and I chose [music] [music] straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros, compete against local cyclists, and track your own performance. [music] Grab your GPS device and get started at straa.com/ver. Straa, built for cyclists. Well, looking down again at the main field, they really have turned the race on fire here this afternoon. The long line of the main Pelaton is under serious pressure. We were looking at 29 km to go, 18 miles to go, an advantage of 3 minutes. Now, Bob, in the space of about 6 miles, it's come down to 48 seconds. >> Unbelievable chase here. Aanana has come to the front also chasing these three men. Here's our leaders. Bryce Fu, he's in the black, white, and light blue jersey there of Leopard Trek. Jurgen Van Deeral is the Omega rider in the middle of the three. And at the front is Martin Chalingi from the Rabble Bank team. I thought they had a decent chance to fight out for the stage win because of the high quality of these athletes, but uh because of the pressure and the gaps that opened up in the Pelaton and I think it was the Garmin team that realized they had a chance to isolate their sprinter Tyler Farah and they really went to the front, put the hammer down and put pressure on a lot of the GC riders as well. Sky team not paying attention were caught out. Aana realized that and they've come to the front also. So they're putting a lot of pressure on all of the other GC contenders. Now we're looking here at the second uh main field here. And I have a funny feeling, Bob, as we look in there. We can see Alexander Vinorov. There's only about 35 riders left in this group, but you can just see a group coming back onto the the rear end of the main field. Two big names caught out. Bradley Wiggins was caught out in the split there. And of course, Cadel Evans, one of the massive big pre-race favorites. But look at the damage that Garmin Sele have done to this bike race. There will be some sore legs on a flat stage that shouldn't have disrupted things too much. less than 20 km, less than 12 miles of racing and uh the Pelaton absolutely flying across these roads. There's going to have to be some regrouping, but there's a big group of riders that have been tailed off the back because of the pressure of Garmin and now Estana. And I have to say that's a serious mistake by Cadel Evans and his team BMC because he should have been more attentive. That's not normally the way that Cadel Evans rides. He's normally right up at the front end of the midfield. A couple of teammates around him to pace him into the right position, but a lot of big names have been caught out by this move. >> Tony Martin as well finding himself in a very desperate situation. He didn't have a great climb to finish off yesterday's stage. And here's an attack on the front. That is Cholingi going away from his two companions. >> Well, I tell you what, they've looked over their shoulders. They know that the main field is coming back. And they felt the viciousness of that attack by Chilingi. So, they've said, "Right, we'll go back to the main field this afternoon because he ain't going nowhere." They know what's going on in this bike race. But that was a very clever move. Just look at that ideal position, Bob. Straight out of the handbook. Third position. Looks at the other two riders. One's boxed in. Bang. Down the left hand side. Gelingi. That's a good move. If they catch the two riders that he used to be with, he would just left behind and ease up and wait for a regrouping of the Pelaton. Well, a solid chance still. But I don't think that any of the sprinters teams, if they come back together, are going to let that happen. Look at the riders bunny hopping that traffic furniture just behind the spear, the tip of the spear here. Estana putting the hammer down, realizing they have a gap on some of Alexander Vino Kurov's rival and there is no rest for the wicked on today's stage. Let's see if Garmin Curla continues to race aggressively. >> Well, I'm sure they will. Team Estana have realized this is a very crucial moment. Just goes to show, Bob, what we say all of the time. You have to be attentive even on the flat stages of a bike race because you never know what can happen when you go around a corner. Bit of chaos there. You can see the two riders there have been about caught the main field. I think the referees have been caught out by the sheer acceleration of the main field. And there's a bit of chaos there for them to sort out. A little bit of congestion in this little village before we get into the final six or seven miles of the bike race. And all of the officials cars that were following the breakaway didn't have time to get out of the way because the Pelaton is catching the brake so quickly. Wow. This is serious business here we're looking at now because we've got real alarm bells ringing in the groups of second and third on the road behind now. We've seen a massive big split in the Pelaton. The gap to the leaders is down to 10 seconds. This is Jurgen Vander. Get the motorbikes out of the way please because this is chaos. This is a bit of fun this afternoon. above. You remember when we used to get to the front and get into the motorbikes and it was all chaos was going crazy. >> Absolutely. This is an amazing stage. We didn't think a lot would happen until the finishing sprint, but it's been incredibly thrilling because of this gap created by the aggression of the Garmin team. They're really desperate for a stage win today. I have a feeling that Tyler Farah is feeling good and he's going to try to win today's stage. >> Well, there's only one man at the front of the bike race currently, Martin Jalingi. There's the race referee getting himself to a bit of safety. We'll take a bit of a break. When we come back, let's hope it comes back to normal. [music] Welcome back. Stage two from Von to Leon. 179 km today's stage and is full of action. Now, we didn't really expect it to be on fire as it is currently, but what has happened? Some big pre-race favorites have been caught out by the acceleration of initially Garin Sevel. It's all together at the front end. Martin Jaleni had himself around about a 3-second advantage. He's now currently back in the main field. Team Estana in the turquoise and yellow jerseys. The team of the leader Alexander Vinorov is just over there to the right hand side in the yellow jersey. All of a sudden, this has turned out to be a very important tactical maneuver. Interesting to see AG Tuar here come to the front. I think they have a feeling that the because of the split here that their their riders have a chance to move up in the overall standings and there's Cadel Evans in the green jersey with the red shorts on the wheel of Bradley Wiggins. Sky in an absolutely desperate situation. They missed out on that split and now they're chasing as hard as they can. They are a ways off the back and that gap is continuing to grow and the Wiganator there as well in second position. He's also being caught out. Bradley Wiggins high up in the overall standings riding in front of Cadell Evan in the green jersey. This again bo is not a very big pelon. We've got the sec the first group of around about 30 riders here. There's only about 35 riders in this group. This race has been split to pieces and that all happened at 12 miles to go. Well, this is a terrible situation for Cadell Evans to be in. If he has to start doing work here and there's Bradley Wings with a flick of the elbow, please come through. Give me a hand. There's Bhogan in the white jersey also in trouble. All the Sky Riders now have come to the front and they're trying to close it down to the lead pelon. And Alexander Vinukurov in the meantime, he has his teammates on the front absolutely drilling it. They are drilling it as you put it Bob and that's the reason why there's such a big gap starting to appear. It's around about 20 seconds now to the the front end of the second Pelaton and almost all of team Sky got caught out by that maneuver and it all really started with Garmin Seilla. I can just see Tyler Farah over there to the right hand side. He's the man Bob. He was not in the wrong place. He knew what his team was going to do. He's looking for the victory this afternoon. >> Europa carar coming through there realizing that they have a big advantage here to this group. You can see the these riders are absolutely sprinting. Christian Kenise there in the white jersey for the Sky Team is champion of Germany trying to do what he can to bring their team leader Bradley Wiggins back into the front. Well, it's all together here because Martin Jalinga has been pulled back into the fold. This is the front end of the main field. And you can see if you look at the faces of these guys, it's an absolute urgency appearing on the front of everybody there. Remy D Gregorio, the Aana rider over to the left hand side there, Bob. It looks as if it's going to come back together and there's one or two riders I think in that second group are going to breathe a sigh of relief. >> This is a very desperate situation now. There's the two groups. They're starting to regroup a little bit in the front. You can see them bunching up in the Pelaton. Once they go out of Indian file, that means the pace is a little bit slower. Not quite as desperate in the front. When you're in behind in behind chasing, you know exactly what you have to do. They haven't lost sight of this front group. So the riders chasing and you have one team totally dedicated team sky on the front. They missed out. They don't have a single rider in the front group, so they're doing everything they can to bring their riders back. But what's troubling is that Bradley Wiggins himself has had to do a lot of the work to close that gap down. That shows the urgency and the importance of trying to get across this gap. As you look down there, we're looking at a gap. I would say the gap is not 24 seconds. I would say it's about a 15-second gap between group one and group two. So, as we look at this race starting to come back together, we'll take another short break and see how the sprinters are going [music] to set it up. Tomorrow, the NHL Stanley Cup final presented by Geico continues on versus at 7:30. It's game four between the Canucks and the Bruins. See who takes their next step towards hockey immortality. History will be made on Versus. Well, just looking here at Team Sky on the back foot, you can see all of the riders from Team Sky urgently riding at the front end of the main field. Bob, look at the this road furniture really is a hazard for racing in France and in the whole of Europe nowadays. You've got to be so attentive all of the time. The gap, a mere 15 seconds, but when you're in a situation like this, everybody's absolutely on the rivet. It looks as if you can just close that gap down easily, but sometimes the last 15 seconds is the hardest. Yeah, >> absolutely. And when you have a big time trial on tomorrow stage, you want to conserve as much energy as possible. You do not want to be caught behind doing this absolutely flatout chase. Here's the front group. AG2R doing a lot of work and Moy Star has come to the front. Also, Garmin was the team that did the damage. Johan Vansman right in the middle of your screen. You can see and just on his wheel looking very dangerous is Tyler Farah. 10 kilometers to go. Six miles of racing. And we have a bit of a situation here because the riders who started the day in third, fourth, and fifth position overall, Bob, they've missed the move. That's impossible. That's almost impossible. It doesn't happen very often. And that's why the riders that made the split realize they have a great advantage if they can press that to the finish line. And that gap is now completely stabilized at about 15 seconds. And uh it's going to be a very tough day. There's Cadel Evans in the green jersey on the right hand side of your screen there. He's having to do the work himself. He doesn't want to do any work on today's stage. He wants to save himself for tomorrow's time trial. And that's perhaps why he got caught out. >> Yep. Sitting a little bit too far back in the main field alongside the Bradley Wiggins and Edil Booseenhogen. I'm surprised because Bosenhog is a young rider. He would more than likely have been sitting towards the front end of the pelon. Just a little bit too relaxed. Comes across wind splits the race up and all of a sudden we got big Johan Van Summer on the front here. over on the left hand side with a blue helmet, black and white jersey, Garmin Sevel, the winner this year of Perry Rubé. He's hardly won any races in his career, but when he comes out, he really is a powerful boy. Well, if you have to win one race in your career, it might as well be Perry Rubé, one of the most beautiful races in all of cycling. But Yoan Vans and not a star today. He's a workhorse trying to set Tyler Farah up for a stage win and keep this second group at bay if they can do that. And now the catch is desperately closer. just a few just 50 maybe 100 meters in between the two groups. >> I have to say Bob that is a professional mistake by Cadell Evans and Bradley Wiggins really for sitting too far back down the main field. What what what was the team manager doing at a point like this? >> Well, good question. [laughter] They were sitting a little bit too far back and when a split happens and you get caught behind it, you have to regroup, get your teammates to in the front to do the work. But it was such a dangerous situation that the team leaders actually had to do a lot of the work themselves. Bradley Wiggins as well as Cadel Evans on the front doing the tempo. What you would prefer is if their teammates were strong enough to close the gap, but the riders in the front seeing that it was a dangerous situation really went flat out even before we got to the finish line. Now we're going to get these two groups coming together, but there's still a lot of riders off the back. There's a lot of riders being caught out by this. And now finally Bradley Wiggins, Cadell Evans, and Edmil Bzenhogen can breathe a sigh of relief. But they they can't just sit there, Bob. They got to scramble straight up to the front end of the main field to make sure they don't get caught out again. >> Yes, most definitely. Because of the climb to the finish, there's definitely going to be some gaps, especially after such a hard stage. And so, you have to be right in the front in the first 10 riders coming towards the line or you're going to lose some more time. You can bet your bottom dollar that Alexander Vinurov will be at the front and attentive and maybe put in a dig for the stage himself. It's a perfect finish for Venurov. >> Well, you might have just have noticed the river on the right hand side. That's the river Sona because the Son and the Ron come together right here in the very heart of Lyon. A very famous town, the second largest town in Paris. As we look right in the middle, Gin Sevel, they're in a great situation because they didn't have to take advantage of riding at the front end there. All the teams of the overall leaders were doing the pacemaking. That gives them a little bit more firepower to get them Tyler Farah to the front for the final kick up to the finish. >> Well, they lit the fuse at the right moment. Then they were able to sit back as Estana tried to put pressure on the chasing teams. Now we have a pretty goodized Pelaton. Wonder if JJ Hayeta wasn't caught out himself. We'll see if he can move into position. It's going to be a very exciting stage finish. >> Oh, it's very nasty. I tell you, just walking up to the to the finishing line, I was told that it's really very difficult and not likely to be a great pure sprinters finish. But in the recent years, I've got to say, Tyler Farah has turned out to be a very strong man. He's really a classics rider rather than a pure sprinter. Oh, he has got great results in the classic and it's just a matter of time before when he he wins one of the big monuments of the sport. It's been a while for Garmin Curvello to get a stage win. Dave Zriski had a great time trial win in the tour of California and I think they want to get a stage win out of this race as well and that just builds the momentum for the tour to France coming up in a few weeks time. >> Well, you can see a little bit more organization now starting to come to the front end. 6.8 kilometers to go to the finish as the main field has fortunately come back together. All of the leaders, Wiggins, Evans, and Bzenhagen are comfortably back in the main main pack with Alexander Vinakurov. We'll take a very short break. When we come back, we'll be right in the heart [music] of Lyon. Welcome back. We're now getting right down to the nitty-gritty here at 6.5 kilometers to go. I have to tell you, Bob, all of a sudden, who's going to take care of this race to the finish? Red, white, and blue jersey just over there on the right hand side. Little Tommy Vocal. We can't call him little Tommy Vocal anymore because he's a man who's building himself a big reputation. >> Yes, top pro now looking for a stage win. He has two teammates in the green jerseys and the black shorts from Rio car right in front of him. This is a perfect finish for Vocar as well. and he is on the form of his life. He's having a great season. He'd like to keep his name in the headlines and a stage win here at the Doofan would go a long ways in doing that. Well, that's the backdrop of Leon, right? Many people regard this as the the gastronomic capital of France. It certainly is a great place for cuisine and at one time one of the most famous restaurants in the world was right here in the heart of Lyon, the great the Golden Lion. It was called Coffeidus at the front end of the main field. Bob, do you think Sammy Dulan's got a chance this afternoon? He has come and had a look at the race and he is a very explosive sprinter. >> Tammy Dum Milan has a great chance to win the stage here today. He's a sprinter but not in the pure mode. He also has some pretty good climbing legs on his day and it's a perfect finish for Dum Milan and maybe his only chance to actually legitimately have a chance to win a stage and Kofidis would dearly love to get a stage win in the doof. >> Well, they're looking over their shoulders. They're keeping themselves organized that the turquoise jerseys of team Estana. They're riding at the front. Not really thinking about winning the stage here this afternoon, but protecting the position of their man Alexander Vinorov right up at the front end of the main field. I almost got caught out there by the way because you might have noticed the King of the Mountains jersey. That's today on the shoulders of Jurgen Vanderwala, the winner of yesterday's stage. Jurgen Vanderala continuing his good form. Made the split there in the polka dot jersey. Yuringan Vandenbrook is the Omega rider in the polka dot jersey. Winner of yesterday's stage and moved himself into second place and overall that's a very dangerous situation right there. That traffic island just coming out of nowhere and if the rider in front of you doesn't point that out. It's easy to plow into that and that's when we see the big accidents happen in professional cycling nowadays. >> Yeah, too many Vanders I think on team lotto, Bob, because yes, Jurgen Vandenbrook is wearing the King of the Mountains jersey here this afternoon. At the back end of the main field, you might just notice there a number 81. Well, that's Robert Kessing a little bit smarting I think because of his performance yesterday. We expected a lot more to come from him and of course from team Rabbank. >> Well, he did a good prologue. So, the if he can do a good time trial, usually you're in really good shape, but I think the big mountain top on the first stage caught Robert Kynink a little bit unawares and he lost over two minutes on yesterday's stage and now he finds himself at the back. He's going to need to move up a little bit because inevitably there's going to be some gaps leading up to the finish line and you don't want to have to keep closing those gaps. So a bit of a disappointment so far for Robert Hink in the doofy name. >> Well, Vakon Solea on the front now in the black and yellow jersey. They're trying to keep themselves organized at just 4 kilometers to go. Two and a half miles to the finish line. This is the nervous time. There's big Johan Vans out of the saddle there in the black shorts at the back. He's done all of his pacemaking to to set this race up for his man Tyler Farah who hopefully this afternoon is going to come up with the goods. BMC here on the front. Cadel Evans. Now, that's where he needed to be a little while ago. There's Matthew Buchet in the red, white, and blue jersey with the yellow stripe. And that's the recently crowned professional road racing champion of the United States. A great sprint by Matthew Buchet just getting the better of big George Happy. Well, he's in fine form and he put in a very good sprint there just to nick George Happy on the line in Greenville, South Carolina. He could well be riding on the crest of a wave after a very successful Amgen tour of California. This is what it looks like at the back. These guys now, Bob, they're not even thinking about winning the stage, are they? They're just thinking about surviving and crossing the finishing line. If you want to win the race, you've got to be in this position. Anywhere here in the first 15 to 20 places. Otherwise, stay at home. >> Yeah, exactly. Just watch the proceedings from a few few positions behind. BMC on the front now. They don't want to make the same mistake twice. So, Cadel Evans has his teammates on the front, not hoping for a stage win, but they do have to protect Cadel Evans. That was a desperate chase. Three kilometers now to the finish line. Just over a mile and a half. >> Well, nervous moments. You can see everybody trying to move up, scuttle up around the left hand side, round the right hand side, get themselves into the ideal position. So, now it's Rabo Bank coming to the front. They've decided they're going to try and get themselves organized. They've got some expens explosive riders. Paul Merttons, we saw him riding very well in the Amgen Tour of California. He would like a mountain top finish like this. Well, a hilltop finish really. >> And maybe Lewis Leon Sanchez as well. The Spaniards come over to the Ravvel Bank squad. see if he can go for perhaps a stage win on today's stage. Also got to keep Robert Hayink out of danger and keep him from losing any more time. He could make that deficit up in the mountains in the high mountains. We have two incredible stages to finish off this week's racing in the doofina. Massive mountain stages worthy of the tour to France. They are beyond category and some of the biggest climbs in the world. >> I tell you what, Saturday and Sunday of this week, you want to be glued to the television at the Doofine because it's going to be a real humdinger of a race. We've got now the big boys on the front here from Rabber. They're trying to lead this race out for their men. Maybe they're going to give a chance to last boom. There you can see Bedo moving to the front. Juan go karate. Every Oh, Bob. This is a little bit dangerous here. A little bit sketch as we go around the traffic furniture. Rabo Bank with 2 kilometers to go are in control. With a mile to go, you see those traffic islands come out and the rider in front has to point them out to the riders behind or you have chaos. So far, it seems as if everybody's gotten through there safely. Once they get to the slopes of the final climb, the kick up to the line should be a little bit safer as far as traffic furniture is concerned, but you always got to pay attention. >> Sorry about the picture break up as we come into the middle of town here into the heart of Leon. Every now and again the signal gets interrupted, but at the front end there's no interruption. Now we're looking here at Carlos Bedo on the front end of the main field. Oh, take the wrong line you boys. And you can see in third or fourth position, the red, white, and blue champion of France, Thomas Vogler. Had a little dig yesterday. Bob, he'd probably have another go this afternoon. Thomas Fogler looking very dangerous there. He's got a great kick to the line, especially when it's not a pure sprint. Thomas Fogler, he's fourth wheel in the red, white, and blue jersey. Red, white, and blue shorts behind the Ravel Bank riders. Rabble Bank doing a tremendous turn of work here. Let's see if they can come up with the goods for a stage win. Well, moving up right up there as well. It looks like the young German rider John Deenulp is riding in fourth or fifth position. A lot of Oh, there's a crash at the back. And there you've got Vandenbrook has gone down. Vandenbrook who is in second place in the overall standings. Bob he's inside of 3 km to go so he won't lose any time because of this but he will get a little bit of a fright. There is the kilometer to go sign. There's the swing around the outside. Now the move coming here from team Quickstep don't it's FTJ. It is Quickstep change their colors. Well the big acceleration now. This may well have caught everybody. This is Marco Bandiera from Italy who's made the move. But immediately it's coffee dish in the red and white jersey straight onto his back wheel. Kofidi is controlling things now. Dumalan moving into position. A couple of twists and turns falls flat here. It's not a real climb but it's also not flat so it's not a pure field sprint. It favors the riders with explosive [music] power on the climbs and Kofides is incredibly controlling the field. Denov from HTC right in the middle of your screen on the wheel also. >> Well in third position there you can see Sammy Dulan. Acceleration now coming from the French national champion Thomas Vogler. This is the kind of explosion he wants. Bob, these are very difficult corners here. And these are the kind of corners where you can use the the slight incline to your advantage. Duman up into third position. Vocal is going, but I don't think he's going anywhere at all. Few hundred meters now for Thomas Vocler. Got caught out a little bit. Didn't was unable to maintain his momentum around those two corners. And Dumo land now in position there for Kofiness. But Vocler not giving up. >> Thomas Vogler will not give up. He's the French national champion. Locked into his wheel though is Sammy Dumulan. The red and white. Their ideal position for this sprinter as they come around the final bend. Dumulan came to look at this race finish a couple of days ago. So he knows it to perfection. But there's the acceleration now is coming from HTC. This will be the German rider John Deen as he comes up to the line. He's got the big gap. A big victory for him. Sammy Deulu will have to settle for second place this time. Vino Kurov closing the gap down there. You can see the gap starting to open up. There's Cadel Evans in good order. But I think there might be a little bit of a time gap there. If they open that up, then that will give Veno Kurov another couple of seconds on his rivals. But what an incredibly hard stage. [snorts] Well, you can see the gaps that have opened up here as we look back a little bit further down. This has been a very difficult stage. There's Jurgen Vandenbrook coming in. He should be given the same time as everybody else. But I'll tell you one thing, Bob. I think his pulse will have gone [music] right up through the roof when that happens. >> Well, that'll be interesting if uh because it's a little bit of a climb with the categorized climb at the top. the uh the ruling might be different then the uh the 3 km rule may not be in effect and that way Vandenbrook would lose a lot of time. >> Well, you can see all the riders from team Rabber Bankank have slipped a long way back down the main field here this afternoon as you can see many of the riders from BMC probably scolding a little bit Bob from the the chase up to the finish line to try and pull Cadel Evans back into this race. >> Johan Vansin finishing up now did a lot of work. Tyler Farah not able to match the accelerations on the climb. >> And I think this climb actually caught out one or two people, but it didn't catch out John Deen Cole because that was a very emphatic and welltimed victory. His fourth victory of the season, but I'd have to say probably one of his biggest ones at just 22 years of age. He's got a massive career ahead of him. This is where it all started. Thomas Vogler made the big acceleration coming around one of the final bends and it forced Sammy Demula in the red jersey there to have to close down the gap. And when he got to that point, it looked as if he was going to win. But watch out for the rider from HTC. >> That's John Deen Cobb. He's the HTC man. Fourth wheel now moving up dumo land going up against the fences. He had a great look at the finish line. But what a finishing kick. The Gen Cobb had a fantastic prologue. So the form is there. He goes for the stage win. Very surprising victory vanquishing all of the sprinters. Great ride by Denob. >> Well, as he looks over his shoulders there, he gets himself a very easy victory. We will take a very short break and when we come back we'll go to [music] the podium and get the overall results. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on versus the superior light beer perfectly balanced for the ultralife and brought to you by physique. [music] Check out physique's new high performance R1 and R3 road shoes at physique.com. Welcome back to the criterium dofina [music] and the finish in Leon where John Dean has just scored a very very emphatic victory [music] coming from a long way back in the charge up to towards the line. He jumped from about sixth position to eventually cross the line in first place. A magnificent performance by him and really putting Terra to team Coffeidis and of course Sammy Deulu who crossed the line in second place. So let's get confirmation of those results. A [music] little bit further down, let's look at the win by John Deenulp ahead of Sammy Demu. Sebastian Ino of France up there [music] in third place. And creeping into the top five, Yokima Rodriguez of Team Katusha. A bit further down, the man who really [music] put the cat amongst the pigeons, Tommy Bookler in sixth place. Further back, Nicholas Roach in ninth and Fabian Wegman up there in 10th. So the Michelob Ultra ride of the day, Bob, I think it has to go to the winner of this day, John Deenov. What a great win. >> Well, Sammy Duman had the perfect trajectory and the solid lead out from his teammates. The Kofides rider was able to only [music] get second because this acceleration by John Denko impossible to match. Great stage win for HTC Hyrule. >> So that's why he earns himself the Michelob Ultra ride of the day. Well, at 22 years of age, John Dean Cole has come to the top step of the podium here. He's won three times before this year. In fact, he won a very good race in Frankfurt in the month of May. But Bob, that was a very dramatic sprint win. Great win by Den Cob there from HTC. They continue their winning ways. They seem to find a way for all of the riders on their team to come with the goods and that is a sign of one of the top professional teams in the world. They have the fastest sprinter, Mark Cavendish. would be easy to just lay low, let Caendish take all the glory, but this team continues to win. They're very successful. And the latest is this man right here, John Denkul. [music] So, a great win by him and he his team HTC. Here's confirmation now of the overall standings then. [music] There was definitely a 6-second gap between Alexander Vinorov and everybody else. So, he now leads this race ahead of Jurgen Vandenbrook by 11 seconds. Wiggins is in third place, Cadell Evans fourth, and Nicholas Roach looking very solid in fifth. Moving further down then Yoken [music] Rodriguez is in sixth. Yanni Brachovich still silently sitting there in seventh place. And of course the Frenchman Thomas Vogler climbing up into eighth position. Looking a little further down at the notables pre-race favorite Robert [music] Ging is lying a lowly 47th. Matty Bush 56. Ivan Basso I would think very disappointed in 92nd. And the American sprinter Tyler [music] Farah in 142nd place. Well, a very very clever and astute ride to the finish there by Alexander Vinurov. He had a feeling I think Bob in the back of his mind there was going to be a slight time split on the run up to the line and he's extended his lead in the overall standings. >> He has gained a few seconds there because of the gaps opening up. He realized that the finale the last 50 km was very tough. So that there might be a chance very heads up riding. You almost never catch that man out in the as far as tactics are concerned and when he has the legs he has a great chance to defend his jersey. Tomorrow is the time trial. [music] We'll see what he can do in that. But a great ride today and got a few seconds on his rivals. >> So after a very good win there by John Deenov, let's just go around the back of the podiums to see what he has to say about his victory this afternoon. >> Yeah, it was a was a good stage for me. We we saw it before the race and said, "Yeah, today it can uh something for me." And yeah, I'm so happy. My first World to Race win and yeah, I'm absolutely happy. Yeah, I'm a young rider. It's my first year as a pro rider and yeah, it's a super start this year. I had not only this victory, I had four victories before and yeah, super season for me, super start for the pro and I'm so happy. So Bob, I have to say at 22 years of age, a very confident young man getting his first really big victory. >> Well, Tony Martin not riding well right now. That gave Dinkle a chance to go for the stage win and he did not let his team down. A great stage win for the American HTC High Road Squad. So that just about wraps it up and don't forget tomorrow the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra continues at 5 with stage three of the Craterium Dofen. And it's an extremely important individual time trial. It's almost exactly the same route as the tour to France we'll use in July. So don't miss it. And if you want a full schedule, log on to our website at [music] NBCports.com. And you can follow us on Twitter at vssycling. And tune in tomorrow at 7:30 [music] as Geico presents game four of the NHL Stanley Cup final between the Canucks and the Bruins. [music] Congratulations to a new rising star, I have to say, from HTC High. The city of Gobble today is the host of the individual time trial at the Dofina. The race of truth should redefine [music] the series contenders as it sorts out the men from the boys. So far this year, Criterium Dofane has not only been exciting, but it's been really tough. After Lars Boom won the opening prologue time trial, the fireworks exploded on [music] the first two road stages. Vandenbrook is absolutely flying. He has demolished the field. The acceleration [music] now is coming from HTC. This will be the German rider John Deac as he comes up to the line. He's got the big gap. A big victory for him. A starter rider Alexander Vinakurov has emerged from the smoke [music] and is wearing the yellow jersey as race leader. But today, the race of truth could alter the standings. Today's individual time trial in Grenobyl mimics the course that will be used in the tour to France in July and overall contenders [music] such as Cadell Evans and Bradley Wiggins will go fullon today to try and gauge their fitness. It's stage three of the craterium [music] dofina next on Versus. Heat. Heat. [music] [music] >> [music] >> Grenoval has always been regarded as the gateway to [music] the Alps and that's certainly what it's going to be today for the individual time trial, the race of truth. Hello, this is the epic cycle presented [music] by Michelob Ultra. I'm Paul Sherin. Alongside me, Bob Ro and Bob, this is a very interesting and [music] difficult individual time trial. Well, it's critical for success in this year's doofine. Obviously, Veno Kurov leading Jurgen Vandenberrook by 11 seconds, as well as Bradley Wiggins, but also as an added little bit of suspense. It's a virtually identical course to what they're going to see on July 23rd, the second to last day of the tour to France. >> Yes, Alexander Vinoroffer very clever, very astute yesterday, getting himself an extra 6 seconds advantage on everybody else, extending his lead in the overall classification. Great tactics employed by the Kazak at the finish of yesterday's day. [music] Certainly extending his lead to 11 seconds over Jurgen Vanderbrook and Bradley Wiggins. And the same time in third place. Nicholas Roach up there in fifth. And looking a little bit further down, we've got Yokim Rodriguez [music] in sixth. Yanni Brachovich still haunting there. Everybody in seventh place and Rui Costa in 10th. [music] Robert Hayink still a little bit behind. 2 and 1/2 minutes down. Matthew Buché riding well. Yvon Baso having a disastrous [music] dopune so far. 4 minutes 47 seconds behind. >> Yeah, but as we look at Grenobyl, Grenobyl is nestled right in the heart of the Alps, right into the gateway into the big mountains. You know, stories like Al Dair, it all starts from Grenobyl. But this I have to say, is a very interesting individual time trial and everybody knows it's going to be extremely testing, a very testing course, a lot of twists and turns, quite technical also. It's not flat by any stretch of the imagination. Undulating, lots of climbs [music] out on the course, you know, a lot of tricky descents also. So the riders will not only have to produce the power, they'll also have to have the technique as well. >> Yeah. As they come, they start from Genov, go out to Vizil and then back again. There's a very nasty little lump right in the middle of the course. As you see right to the start there at Bri Angong, there's a very difficult climb up to 465 m down into the town of Vizil and then on the way back to the finish to towards San Mate. It's a very difficult climb. This should be extremely testing. It's a [music] really good cause for a time trialist. So before we go to the live [music] action, I can confirm that the overall standings at the finish line are Tony Martin in first place, Edmil Bzenhogen in second place, and Dave Zabriski in third. Well, we're out on the course here now and we're looking for the first time check, Bob, at 15 km covered in the town of Visil. The fastest man through there, Tony Martin, who I didn't think was riding very well at all, has recorded the fastest time at the first time check, the second time check, and has the fastest time at the finish line. Bradley Wiggins, I have to say, is looking rather good. Tony Martin starting the stage 10 minutes 31 seconds behind. Not racing well in the hills so far in the doof, but today Tony Martin saved something very special for the individual time trial. He came to the finish line with a great time, the fastest so far. Everybody is currently out on course. Alexander Vinorov in the yellow jersey. He started last man. He can ride a very good individual time to looking at the course today. I have to say, Bob, I think this is a good course for a specialist. A specialist like Bradley Wiggins. >> Bradley Wiggins looking there in his aerodynamic skin suit in the time trial. Looking solid, pretty testing. A lot of climbs, a lot of climbs out on the raceourse. There has been some rain off and on throughout the day. So, a very technical course as well. Starting in fourth overall, there is Cadell Evans in the red and black jersey of team BMC racing. He's coming up to the first time checker just n 15 kilometers covered into the town of Vizil. Cadell Evans has in the past made this a very important rendevous building himself up for the tour to France and I think this year his preparation has been absolutely perfect. He started the season off with the win at the Teno Adiadico. Had a rather surprising win in the tour of Romany. tour of Romany fairly similar to the doofina and I think Cadell is harboring some high hopes for the overall standings at the end. There's big mountain to come in the final weekend of racing but on today's time trial Cadel Evans is one of the best in the business during a stage race and he needs to get just 13 seconds faster than than Ven Kurov to pass Veno in the overall standings. Just looking down here at the chat of Vizilla in fact there was a very famous climber came from the town of Vizilla Tir Clavarola. They used to call him the eagle of visili when the king of the mountains in the tour to France a number of years ago. And this is where the first time check is going to be at 15 kilometers cover. Dave Zabriski went through there in second place 17 seconds behind Tony Martin. Edward Bozenhogen went through in third place at 35 seconds. But at the finish line, Tony Martin was 45 seconds faster than the second rider in the race. Bohog coming in second. He lost a little bit of time because of the wet roads perhaps to Tony Martin, but the at least for Bohasan Hogan, it was a dry road the last 10 km. He was able to close that gap down a little bit to Tony Martin, but Tony Martin so far head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Yeah, a little earlier we spoke to Shawn Yates who's the team manager of team sky and he's in the car right now behind Bradley Wiggins. He felt that Wiggins has got a very good chance of winning here this afternoon, Bob. And Shawn Yates himself was a very good individual time trialist. Oh, Sean Yates, one of the best of all time, stage winner in the Time Trail in the Tour to France years ago. Sean Yates, now he is the technical director racing in the car for the Sky Team. Team manager of that man, Bradley Wiggins, and following him on his race. Well, coming back down to the finish line now. This is a very, very good time. Look, we're looking at as Pier from Team Sky, team Leopard Trek coming up to the finishing line and he's going to look inside of an hour finish for him as he crosses the line. He stops the clock in 58 minutes and 32 seconds. We're looking at some very fast times here. We're looking at 43 44 km an hour. Well, that time you can see how fast Tony Martin scorched the course. 5528 riders still in the top 23 minutes plus behind Tony Martin. So that standard set by Tony Martin is going to be very very difficult to to overcome throughout the rest of the day's proceedings. Back here with Jurgen Vandenbrook. A little bit of a scare yesterday I have to say Bob at the top of the climb when he had that little accident at the bottom of the climb. He actually said after the he wasn't quite sure whether or not the 3 kilometer rule worked or not. But unfortunately for him it did work and he was given the same time as the group that he was in to keep himself in second place in the overall standings. And for a man who's better reputed as a climber, he's actually looking rather good in the individual time trial. King of the Mountains jersey on his shoulders. There won't be any points up for grabs on that. So he'll continue to uh wear that jersey. Out on the open rows now. Jurgen Vandenbrook starts the stage in second place in the overall standings. Only 11 seconds behind Alexander Vinurov. On Jurgen Vandenbrook's day, he can do a decent time trial. This will give us a good indication of how his form is coming into the Tour to France. Well, I tell you what, you don't really finish high up in the overall standing of race like the Tour to France if you can't ride a good individual time trial. Constantine Siftop. This is a good ride, Bob. He's going to finish well inside of the top 10 and he's a man who once we get into the mount the the weekend that we're looking forward to here at the the criterium dopy is going to be phenomenal and guys like Zifov with a good individual time trial can still dream about winning. He's caught in fact the man who started before him David Monkier Monkier the Kofidis rider on the wheel of Constantine Zoff Zoff perhaps coming back to the tour to France for HTC Colombia. Good ride by Zoff. He'll finish up inside the top 10. Well, I tell you what, Bob, the computer is telling me something here that I find very hard to believe. Cadell Evans has just gone through the first time check at 15 kilometers, 1 minute and 1 second slower than Tony Martin. That is unbelievable. Well, Tony Martin was absolutely flying. Cadell Evans perhaps struggling a little bit or maybe opening it up a little bit slower. There's some very tough climbs in the last half of the time trial. So, Cadel Evans, we'll see what his uh tactics are. But that physically speaking, 1 minute and 1 second slower than the fastest time is not a good way to start the time trial. >> It's not. But I tell you what, Bradley Wiggins has just gone through 21 seconds slower than Tony Martin. That puts him right up in the in the main frame to try and get himself the victory on this individual time trial, but we're going to see a big change around in the overall standings. This [music] is the epic cycle presented by Michelobra on Versus the Superior Lightbeer. Perfectly balanced for [music] the ultralife and brought to you by Straa. Built for the avid cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver. [music] Welcome back to the individual time trial here at the Criterium Dofina. We're looking at the chat of Visilan, the first time check. And we're looking down there onto the shoulders of Alexander Vinurov. He's the last rider to start. He wears the yellow jersey. Leads this race by 11 seconds. And Bob, I have to say it's going to be extremely important the time that he records when he goes through the first time check. I'm a little bit surprised to see that Jurgen Vandenbrook has gone through in 31st place. He's lost himself a minute and 30 seconds after 15 km. >> Well, that's a huge deficit for Jurgen Vandenbrook. does have some mountain stages in the doofine last weekend that can open up huge time gaps, but you have to at least be competitive throughout the especially the time trial if you want to have a chance to win this race overall. Cadell Evans has also conceded quite a bit of time to Tony Martin, one minute, but luckily for Cadell, he's 30 seconds faster than Jurgen Vandenbrook. So far, it's going to be a very tight tight finish and it's going to be interesting to see who who is ready to do the time trial and who is got the better climbing legs. 11th position for Cadel Evans, losing himself 61 seconds after 15 kilometers does not bode well for the finishing line. Bradley Wiggins, however, we're looking at here, has gone through that time check in third place, he's lost 21 seconds around about the same time of Dave Zabriski, but the man who is setting the fastest pace out on the course, Tony Martin. Bob, over the last couple of days, the prologue Martin did not look good. The mountain top finish, he didn't look good. But all of a sudden when you're an individual time tri you you you can raise yourself up to the bar as Alexander Vinorov goes through. He also has lost a massive amount a minute and 21 seconds or more importantly a minute behind Bradley Wiggins so far. So Wiggins at the moment has taken over the yellow jersey from Alexander Vino Kurov. One would presume he's pacing himself but if he is not having a good day he's going to lose huge chunks of time and any chance to defend that yellow jersey that's on his shoulders to start today's stage. only 11 seconds faster than Bradley Wiggins and Jurgen Vandenbrook. But now Veno Kurov looks to be in danger of losing that yellow jersey. >> Well, we're looking here at the yellow jersey, yellow shorts of Alexander Vinorov. He's 37 years of age. He's been a professional for a long, long time. And the individual time trial has never really been his forte. But Bradley Wiggins on the other hand, Wiggins has three Olympic gold medals on the track from Athens and of course from Beijing. He had a very quiet start to the year. He finished third overall in Parines, but just recently he took a very incredible scalp because he beat Fabian Canelara in the individual time trial in the Bayern run Bayern Munich run. Bayern run is a little stage race in Germany and Fabian Canelara building his form for the tour to France. Canelara almost never beaten in the time trials, but Bradley Wiggins was able to do that just about a week before the start of the Dofphane. So Bradley Wiggins on good form. He also had a good climb on stage number one of the Dofphina. So Bradley Williams looking very dangerous. If he continues to be able to climb well, he's doing a good time trial so far. There's a good chance to win the doofina overall. >> Well, we're looking here at the man who starts last on the road, Alexander Vinorov. But the man who is the fastest rider out on the course at every individual time check so far is the HTC High Road rider, Tony Martin. We'll take a short break and see how the best men are [music] going to compare to Tony Martin. straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros. Compete against local cyclists and track your own performance. Grab your GPS device and [music] get started at straa.com/ver. Straa built for cyclists. >> Come on. Come on. >> Looking here at Bradley Wiggins. He's riding a very good individual time tri. is not yet challenging the times of Tony Martin who has the fastest time checks out on the course. But I tell you one thing, Bob, he could be riding himself into the yellow jersey at the end of today's stage. Ticking over a handy little gear there. Good cadence by Bradley Wiggins. Little bit of rain falling on the back side of the course right now. That's going to make the corners on the descents a lot more a lot more dangerous for the riders to come here. Alexander Vinorov in the yellow jersey. >> Yeah, Alexander Vinorov currently in the yellow jersey. The first time check, Tony Martin went through faster than Dave Zabriski, but Bradley Wiggins, the best lead, the best rider in the overall standings, went through there in third place. We're now waiting to see what he's going to do at the 27 1/2 kilometer checkpoint at San Martan de Uri. Tony Martin was the fastest rider there at 39 minutes and 29 seconds. As we pop back to the finish line, Bill Cadri, he rode a very good individual prologue time trial and this is not a bad ride for this young man. Bill Cadri was the fastest rider for a long time in the prologue a couple of days ago to start the fireworks of the doofine this year. Not able to replicate that in the longer time trial here. Also at this point in the stage race, a lot of fatigue in the legs and that's another thing. Tony Martin perhaps soft playing a little bit and saving everything for the time trial. Tony Martin looking good for the stage win, but his overall he's 10 and a half minutes down to start the stage. Well, that's the important thing. Just looking at Cadri as he comes up to the finish line. He's trying to get himself inside of the top 20. He's going to stop the clock very shortly. There he gets 13th best time. 58 minutes and 10 seconds. This is a tough individual time trial, but it's really a time trial built for the specialists. And guys like Cadell Evans, Bradley Wiggins, they're looking to see how they can ride this time trial, which is almost exactly the same course that we ride in the month of July. It'll be very interesting to see how the riders fare in about a month and a half for the tour to France when they do the exact same time trial on the 23rd of July. Cadell Evans catching his one minute man there. So, Cadel Evans making maybe perhaps a little bit better progress. He was quite slow in the first time check compared to Tony Martin, but compared to the other riders in the overall standings, Cadell Evans not too bad. Well, it shows you how well Cadel Evans is riding. He's actually caught Nicholas Roach. And I spoke to Nicholas Roach last night, Bob. In fact, his father, Steven Roach, who won the tour to France in 1987, won the Tour of Italy and the World Championships, is in the car behind Nicholas Roach. Roach has got good climbing legs in this year's Dofaneer Liber, but I don't think he's showing very good individual time triing legs. Cadell Evans already going past Nicol Roach there, the AG2R man right in front of your screen. Cadell Evans maybe picking up the pace now. We'll see how he fares at the end of the stage. >> Yeah, Cadell has wiped off two minutes on Nicholas Roach. As we go back now to Alexander Vinorov, Vineorov in the yellow jersey is looking very solid here, Bob. He's riding a good race. This is Kristoff Kern. This is not a bad ride by Kristoff Kern of the Urup car team. I am not quite sure whether I like this jersey or not. It's a rather interesting shade of green. >> Um, not the most not the most handsome jersey. >> You don't like it either, do you? I figured that out very early on, Bob, in the season when you said to me that they were probably the the most prolific jerseys at the front end of the main field. But I suppose at the end of the day, if we're talking about the jersey, it just goes to show that they they chose something right. >> Kristoff Karen starting the stage 13th overall. Should be able to hold his position, maybe even tickle into the top 10 in the overall standings at the end of the time trial. Decent ride by Kristoff Karen for Europa Car. Yep. Comes across the line in 14th place. But look at the average speed. 43.8 km an hour. I have to say that Tony Martin's time at almost 46 kilometers an hour over this course is a very impressive time. Martin was the fastest rider out on the course at all of the individual time checks. He was first through 15 km, first through 27 km, and he has the fastest time on the finish line for this 42 1/2 kilometer individual time of 55 1/2 minutes. That's pretty fast. So looking down here on Alexander Vinorov, he is not having the best bike ride of his life here this afternoon. He looked so strong, so fast, but right now he's starting to crumble. We'll take a very short break and come back and see just how [music] well Bradley Wiggins and the rest of the time trialists are doing. Well, looking down here at Bradley Wiggins, he is riding a stormer here this afternoon. In fact, he won a time trial just a couple of weeks ago in the the race around Germany, the Bayern Munich runfar, but he also won a small individual time trial in in the UK, the British National 10 mile time trial championships with a time inside of 19 minutes. Back to the finish now. We're looking at Jean Kristoff Pero. This is not a bad ride here. AG2R are putting a lot of riders to the top end of this overall standings and bowl. We're going to have some aggressive riding down towards the weekend. >> Last couple of days of the doofina incredibly mountain as hard as any stage in the tour to France for the last weekend. One more day perhaps for the sprinters before then and so the GC is still up for grabs. Anybody's race, but like you said, AG2R being very aggressive throughout the doofine so far. Well, we're waiting for the time checks coming through the 27 1/2 kilometer mark. I have to say that Yanni Brachovich, Bob, has gone through with a very good time. He's lost a minute and 12 seconds over Tony Martin, but that's not important. But at 27.5 kilometers, the fastest rider, new best time coming through, Bradley Wiggins, 3929. He has smashed the time of Tony Martin. Caught out on yesterday's stage. Maybe that lit a fire underneath. Bradley Wiggins had to close a pretty substantial gap down. Little of a signal there to the team car falling behind. I'm going to have to make a couple of tricky little transitions here. But Bradley Wiggins getting around these corners. Very technical course and made much more dangerous by these slick roads. Well, you know, the race was absolutely dry about an hour ago and now that the big leaders are starting to come out out on the course, it actually is completely and utterly changed. As we look here at at Cadell Evans, Bob, this is a bit of a tricky individual time trial here. And you can see that Cadel Evans is losing time going around the corners. You think he's holding back because we're only a month away from the tour to France. He is concerned possibly. Let's just have a look at the way these two riders are going around these these corners here. This is very sketchy as we get onto the cobblestones here. And it looks almost as if Bradley Wiggins has come to a stop. Bradley Wiggins on those cobbles finding the going. Very slick indeed. taking his time down this descent. Of course, if the riders before him had dry roads, that's a huge advantage. So, Bradley Wiggins gingerly going down this descent. Cadell Evans as well. We'll have to see how that translates into the finishing time, but Bradley Wiggins so far having a great time trial. Well, I tell you what, at 27 12 kilometers, Wiggins and Martin have exactly the same time, 39 29, only separated by ten of a second. Dave Sabriski was third through that point. 35 seconds slower. But Bob, I have to feel that these wet conditions could change the result, but it's not important for Bradley Wiggins cuz what he's looking at is the yellow jersey and his performance relative to the other guys high up in the overall standings. Back to Alexander Vinukurov. Bradley Wiggins getting his way safely through that descent so far. But on the other hand, Venou still on the climb. We can see what his time is. His first time check was way slower than Bradley Wiggins. He had already lost a minute and 10 and provisionally of course the yellow jersey. Bradley Wiggins a storming time trial. Great to see Wiggins starting to fulfill some of that potential he showed a couple of years ago when he finished fourth in the tour to France. Well, just looking here at Alexander Vinorov. This is a very tricky course as we go back now. This is Ruiz Costa coming up to the finish line. A great ride by the rider from Moistar. He comes up to the line. Because a lot of riders, a lot of the climbers, Bob, are doing good individual time trials here, which lets me think that later on in this race, we're going to see some big battles in the Alps. >> This is a very good ride by Ruie Costa. He started the stage 10th overall. He's going to improve on that position at the end of today's time trial, seventh fastest in the time trial. A little bit slower than Tony Martin, but amongst the other top 10 contenders so far, Ruie Costa the fastest. Well, when we went through the first time check at 15 kilometers into the town of Visil, I have to say Cadell Evans had lost himself a minute and 21 seconds on Tony Martin. That's a huge beating by a man who theoretically is using the criterium to do to get himself ready for the tour to France. Started the day off in fourth place overall looking for 13 seconds. But right now, this is not a great performance by Cadell. Cadell Evans struggling through the time trial at least the first two time checks. Alexander Venurov looked to be trying to find a better gear. Was in a huge gear. He switched over to the small chain ring now trying to get his momentum picked up a little bit here and we'll see what Ven Kurov can do on the next time check and then of course in the finish line. So far however he's lost enough time to lose that yellow jersey to Bradley Wiggins. Well, Vin Kurov Bob did a very good prologue time trial, but that was a shorter event that was only 5.4 4 kilometers long and he kept a very good position in the overall standings at the top of the first mountaintop finish up to Sierre de Chartreuse. But since then once you put a man against the clock for 42 1/2 kilometers it just goes to prove why this is the race of truth. Bradley Wiggins I think right now is [music] riding himself into the yellow jersey. We'll take a short break and see if he can. Tonight, the NHL Stanley Cup final presented by Geico continues on Versus. At 7:30, it's game four between the [music] Canucks and the Bruins. See who takes their next step towards hockeyy's immortality. History will be made on Versus. Bradley Wiggins from the United Kingdom is riding a stormer here in the individual time trial. He went through the second time check at 27 1/2 km with the fastest time almost exactly the same as Tony Martin. 3929 for both of those two riders. Zabriski still was holding on to third place at that time at 35 seconds but Alexander Vinurov Bob who we're looking at here has already lost 2 minutes and 11 seconds. 2 minutes and 11 behind Bradley Wiggins at the halfway point or the second time check. Vinukurov is not inheriting the kingdom in the time trial. >> Yanni Brachovich, this is a good ride. Brachovich went through the second time check and fifth place and he's now looking to ride himself up high in the overall classification. I don't think this individual time trial today actually suited his kind of riding, but this is not a bad ride. >> Fantastic ride by To Yanni Brachovich getting a little bit slower than Dave Zabriski coming into the finish line now looking at fourth fastest. But amongst the overall contenders, this is a great ride by Yanni Brockovich. He won the individual time trial in last year's Doofine. And he's doing a great ride here today also. Well, you might just spot the rider behind him there. He's caught and passed Thomas Vogler for 2 minutes in the individual time trial. And he's going to stop the clock there in fourth best time. He's lost a minute and 16 over Tony Martin, but he's one of the riders who hasn't lost very much time in the overall standing so far. So that's going to put him, Bob, in a very goodstead. That will give Yanni Brachovich some great momentum coming into the last two mountain stages on the final weekend of the doofine. Watch for Yanni Brachovich to wipe out that deficit to anybody in front of him in the climbs. Well, he's lost a lot of time in fact on Bradley Wiggins. I'm sorry about the little bit of picture break up. That's because these are live pictures. That was Alexander Vinorov, but this is Cadell Evans who looks good, Bob. He looks as if he's riding a good individual time trial, but the clock tells the truth in the time trial and he's not riding well. A little bit of a new position for Gadell Evans. He has his arms very low on the machine. That gives him a more aerodynamic profile, but you can contrast that with Bradley Wiggins. He has his arms a little bit higher. So, there's a little bit of uh debate going on currently about what's exactly the most aerodynamic position. But Bradley Wiggins is absolutely flying. 5 km just over 3 miles for Bradley Wiggins before the finish. Well, the Wiganator, as we like to call him, went through the first time, the first time check in third position, accelerated a bit to the second time check to go through there in first place. Now, it's all about what he can do on the finishing line. The fastest time so far at the finish line after 42 1/2 km is Tony Martin. 55 minutes and 28 seconds. But Wiggins now, Bob, is back on the dry part of the course. This could come to his advantage. And looking at his body, he's not moving at all. The top half of his body is rock solid in great form. >> Perfect. Yes, perfect time traveling position for Bradley Wiggins there. And the drying here at the end, the last few riders, the last few kilometers, the roads are drying out now. There is Bradley Wiggins just about the same exact time as Tony Martin in the last time check, just a few kilometers before the finish line. Separated by 2 minutes out on the open road from Cadell Evans. Uh Evans not riding a stormer here this afternoon. The last man out on the course in the yellow jersey, Alexander Vinorov. He is not enjoying his individual time trial here, but through through his history, Bob, he's never really been a great time trial. It's more of an attacking rider. He likes to look in the eyes of his competitors and put in those vicious attacks that have given him so many wins during his career. The time trial, an individual effort, a very specialized discipline. And this man right here, one of the best in the world on his day, he is the fastest time trial on earth. And he's having a great day so far in the doofine on the stage. >> Yeah. Bradley Wiggins, whose father was a very good track cyclist, rode on the six-day circuit in Europe. In fact, one time was the European Madison champion. But Bradley, I think, has gone a lot further than his father ever possibly could, taking himself three gold medals at the Olympic Games, and now he's proving to be a very serious contender for the tour of France. It's as if when he when he was riding for Garmin transitions as they were called at the time, he he clicked into the the the role of a team leader at the tour, something happened in his psyche and all of a sudden this man who we knew as a time tried to climb. He has become a great climber to go along with his incredible time triing skills. He has used the Judy Tal to prepare the tour to France and not been very successful with that. He's gone back to his previous program that brought him such good success in the tour to France which includes racing at the Dofina and he is taking this opportunity to really stomp his authority all over this time trial course. Great riding by Bradley Wiggins just a few kilometers now or a couple of miles before the finish line. Yeah, certainly he is rock solid on that machine. We go back a little bit further here to look at Cadell Evans. Cadell looks very solid. The top part of his body is lock solid on the machine, but his position, Bob, I know it's been studied in the wind tunnel during the winter months to get himself to be as aerodynamic position position as possible, but he does not look comfortable. Doesn't look 100% comfortable. And you saw the smooth pedaling of Bradley Wiggins. That looked more way more ideal. And the debate will go on which is the fastest position. It's a pretty it's a pretty technical course as well, but there are a lot of long flat and false flat descents and climbs out on the race. And that's when aerodynamics plays a critical role in the in the results. >> Well, Tony Martin has the best time at the finish line as we make our way through the valley roads here. Shamus is not too far behind us. Grenobyl is down in the valley below and what a magnificent backdrop. And again, let's not forget we're looking at these pictures in incredible HD and that really is a phenomenal job that the France television are doing for us. This is Yokim Rodriguez coming up to the finishing line. Not a great individual time trial. He wears the green jersey as the leader of the points classification. I don't think he's enjoyed his day out here this afternoon, but don't discount him when we go a little bit further on. Walken Rodriguez losing a lot of time. He's more of a climber, and that shows you just what it takes to win one of these stage races. You have to have every weapon at your disposal, climbing and time traveling. >> Well, on the shoulders here of Cadell Evans, it's all about who is going to be the fastest of the men at the top of the overall standings in this individual time trial this afternoon. We'll take a short break and see who is [music] going to be the top man. [music] Welcome back to the individual time trial around the streets of Grenobyl. 42 1/2 kilometers, 25 mi of racing. Cadell Evans is looking to challenge the time of Dave Zabriski. And Bob, I don't think he's going to do it. >> Cadell Evans fighting his way back into the upper bracket here. Fourth fastest right now. He might slip a little bit behind Yanni Brachovich. Very slow start to this time travel by Cadel Evans. Perhaps those were good tactics because now he's dragged himself back into contention. No, he certainly has. He's looking to challenge the time of Yanni Brachovich. And as he goes over the line there, Cadel Evans stops the clock in fifth place. He's lost a minute and 19 seconds over Tony Martin. And in fact, I have to say, Cadel Evans improved over the last part of the course. This is Nicholas Roach coming up to the line and he has lost himself a good couple of minutes there as he crosses the line just outside the top 40. Nicholas Roach, three and a half minutes slower than Tony Martin. He might fall out of the top 10 in the overall standings. And here is Bradley Wiggins coming into the finishing straightaway. Now it's going to be very very close indeed. The time to beat Toad Martin from Germany. HTC High Road 5527. Wiggins went out very fast indeed. He had the fastest time at 27 1/2 kilometers, but he's just slipped away from the time of Tony Martin. He wanted to win the individual time trial here this afternoon. He's not going to do that. But I think Bob with his performance here from Bradley Wiggins, second over the line, losing himself 10 seconds, he is going to inherit the yellow jersey at the end of today's time trial. >> Bradley Wiggins, this is a fantastic effort. Only 10 seconds slower than Tony Martin. Tony Martin starting the day 10 and a half minutes behind Alexander Vinurov, the race leader. But Bradley Wiggins started the day only 11 seconds slower than the yellow jersey of Alexander Venou. And Alexander Vinurov really struggling on today's stage. Well, there are only two riders now left out on course. Jurgen Vanderbrook started penultimate position for him, leader of the King of the Mountains classification. And of course, Alexander Vinurov. Bob, just looking at Vinurov's position there. His body is quite high up there. He's taking a lot of wind into his shoulders. He doesn't have a great aerodynamic position. Well, Bradley Wiggins, one of the best specialists at this discipline, the individual time trial, and a lot goes into it. aerodynamic position, the machine you use, the the choices you make with all of your equipment. And Alexander Vinruff honestly doesn't put that much effort into it. He's more interested in the in the winds out on the open road. But in order to win a stage race, you have to be doing you have to be able to do every discipline. Well, >> you do. You have to be able to time trial. You have to be able to ride in the mountains. And of course, you've got to be able to mix it a little bit with the sprinters on the flat stages, too. Alexander Vinorov is an aggressive bike rider. But today, he's losing a huge chunks of time when he went through the first time check, Bob. He was a minute and 20 seconds down already on Tony Martin and he was a minute down on Bradley Wiggins. Going around this corner here, he probably knows now that he's lost any chance of keeping the overall lead at the end of today's stage. But this is not the kind of rider to give up. He will look for breaks. He will look for moves and escapes as we go down to the weekend. The weekend, Bob, is going to be it's going to be unbelievable. >> Even to the very last climb of the Dofane up to Latus on Sunday, it's still going to be a lot of time to win or lose. And so the top 10 that is most certainly not set in stone after the time trial stage. Vino Kurov will look for some other stages in the mountains to perhaps get a little bit of this time back from Bradley Wiggins. It's going to be at least 2 minutes, maybe. Maybe maybe two and a half, even close to 3 minutes of a deficit in the overall standings to Bradley Wingers at the end of the stage unless Venu Kuros can find something incredibly special to do in the closing kilometers, last couple of miles of the race. I'm not sure that's going to happen, Bob, because this man has consistently lost time. He's not even in the top five at the second time check at 27 12 kilometers covered. He'd already at the the second time check at 27 and a half kilometers lost himself 2 minutes and 11 seconds. That's about 2 minutes over Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins will be looking extremely solid at the top of the leaderboard tonight. But that doesn't mean that he's going to ride away with the win here this afternoon because for him he's got to defend right the way through into the Alps. The question mark that I put on Bradley Wiggins is his ability to get over the mountains >> and handle the pressure of being the race leader. Cadel Evans will be queued up to start his attacking. Yanni Brochovich looking very solid in the time trial as well. So, a lot of work still to be done for Bradley Wiggins, but that's a huge step forward. Cadell Evans clawed his way back into the competitive part of the overall standings because Cadel Evans is such a brilliant climber. And when he has a good day in the mountains, he could wipe out any advantage that Bradley Wiggins might have. >> Yeah. Well, you look at those two races at the weekend, Bob, Saturday and Sunday, we are looking at monstrous mountainous stages. And the fact is this race will go down to the line on Sunday because the finishing line up at Latusia is a long hard finishing climb of around about 12 kilometers of climbing. If you have a bad day on Sunday, you can forget about the individual time trial. Everything's gone out the window. >> Almost certainly you can forget about having a chance to win. You have to be able to defend the jersey. Alexander Venurov has not been able to do that in the time trial. He has a couple of stages to fight back, but Bradley Wiggins has done so in the time trial, and that's the place of the race where he needs to find the maximum advantage over his rivals. And if he has a solid cushion, he can do a climb. He can climb pretty well on his day. So, Bradley Wiggins looking great for the rest of the Dofina. Team Sky would love to get a big result and a win at the Dofina would go a long ways in legitimizing their program. Well, certainly they are a team that have been built around Bradley Wiggins. As we go back now, the penultimate rider out on course, Jurgen Vandenbrook. Not a brilliant individual time trial, B, but I'd have to say a solid ride by Vanderbrook, keeping him in contention. Vandenbrook, a great climber as well. One stage one, he is wearing the King of the Mountain jersey. He's never been a fantastic time trialist, but this is a decent ride by Jurgen Vanderbrook and he has a couple of huge mountain days to to wipe out the disadvantage from the time trial. Yeah, but he's lost himself 2 minutes and 40 seconds almost on Tony Martin. Tony Martin, I don't know where he pulled that out of Bob because I didn't think that Tony Martin was in great shape in this year's Criterium Dop. But all of a sudden, when you're a specialist at a certain part of the sport, you have to do something special. Last man out on course, Alexander Vino Kurov, starting the day in the yellow jersey. He had an 11second advantage over Jurgen Vandenbrook and Bradley Wiggins and 13 seconds over Cadel Evans. He's lost all of that out on the open course. Alexander Vininourov is going to tumble a long way down the overall standings. >> Well, just looking at the uh the the climb up to the Cell La Bastila. This is a very impressive citadel just on the outskirts here of Grenobyl. Grenobyl right down in the bottom nestled in the valley which leads right into the famed climbs of the Cder Gallibier, the Cder Al DuZ and the Cer La Cuadair. Grenobyl today being the host to a very impressive individual time to our last man out on course having a very difficult day. But you know what? If you look at the position that Alexander Vinurov finds himself in, Bob, it's not too bad. It's not the end of the world for Vin Kurov. Struggling to the finish line now falling outside of the top 10 riders on the stage. He did have a pretty handy cushion at the beginning of the day and we'll see if he can continue to stay in the top 10 overall at the end of the time trial. Well, we had said that the individual time trial here around Grenobyl was going to be decisive. It certainly has been that. Tony Martin is going to run out the overall winner. Wiggins is going to inherit the yellow jersey from Alexander Vinurov who stops the clock in 14th place, but the time gaps are huge. Alexander Vinorov has lost himself more than two and a/4 minutes in 25 miles to Bradley Wiggins. That is a big deficit. Bradley Wiggins is [music] going to get the yellow jersey. That's a great ride. Bradley Wiggins has got to be proud of that effort in the individual time draw. >> So with the the last man crossing the line there, Alexander [music] Vinurov, we'll take a very short break and when we come back, we'll have the podium and we'll look at the overall standings [music] which will be completely different to the ones from last night. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on versus the superior light beer. Perfectly balanced for the ultralife. [music] And brought to you by Physique. Check out Physique's new high-performance R1 and R3 road shoes at physique.com. And by Clean Bottle, the bottle that unscrews at both ends [music] for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI Performance Bikes or atcle.com. As we look down on the outskirts of the city of Grenobyl, regarded by many [music] as the gateway to the Alps, but Tony Martin, the individual time trial champion of Germany, has recorded the [music] fastest time today over 42 kilometers. He beat Bradley Wiggins by 11 seconds. Edward Bzenhagen by 43 [music] seconds. Yanni Brackovich right up there in the top five lost a minute and 17. As we look a little further down, Cadel Evans rode fairly [music] solidly for sixth place. Kristoff Rebel of France was eighth and rounding out the top 10, Alberto Ruiz Costa in [music] 10th. So, let's go down now and have a quick word with Tony Martin to see how he felt about his individual win. It was a pretty hardc um a little bit technical um also because the roads are really wet, but I think I I found a good rhythm. I fed really really well. Um and I'm really satisfied with my conditions. A tough call today, but I think we have to give the Michelob Ultra ride of the day, Bob, to Bradley Wiggins. >> Bradley Wiggins, I have to agree. He had all the pressure. He's looking at the yellow jersey if he does a good time trial. That's an added extra element, and he scorched the course [music] a little bit slower than the stage winner, but way faster than any of the other overall contenders. Yeah. So, that's why we're giving him the Michelob Ultra ride of the day. Well, Tony Martin came into the criterium the Doofid with a little bit of a skeptical form, but all of a sudden today, Bobby proved why he's one of the greatest individual time trialists in the sport. >> The first three days of this year's doofina have not gone very well for Tony Martin. Those will be in the distant past with a great stage win in the time trial. It's his specialty. I wonder if he didn't soft pedal perhaps after he knew he was out of contention in the overall on yesterday's stage, giving him just a little bit extra advantage over Bradley Wiggins. The gap at the end of the day was only 10 seconds, but a great stage win for the HTC High Road Tony Martin. So, look at the overall standings at [music] Bradley Wiggins, the new leader by a minute and 11 seconds from Cadell Evans. Yanni Brachovich up into third place, Alexander Vinurov down into fourth. A bit further down, Garen Thomas from Team Sky is looking very solid in sixth [music] place. Jurgen Vandenbrook down to seventh place. Rounding out the top 10, Jerome Copel. Bob, look at the notables. Robert Hasting moving back up into the frame. Now he's 28th overall. He started the [music] day 47th overall. Matthew Buchet moves up into 31st. That's a good ride by the Young American. Tony Martin moves 41 places forward from 131st to 90th. Still [music] rather lowly. Danny Paid a good ride. 103rd place overall. So a brand new leader now in the criterium de doof and this man no no stranger really to the lead of the doofina but in the past he's actually won himself the opening time trial Bradley Wiggins rode a solid ride today Bob fantastic ride by the sky leader Bradley Wiggins this will give him a great boost to his morale before the tour to France a little bit later but for the moment he is the race leader he has some very tough stages to come in the mountains to defend that lead and that will be the real me measure of his fitness at this point in season. >> So, Bradley Wiggins walking away from the podium. Let's catch up with him to see what he thinks about his ride in the time trial today. Today was just about the GC for me. That's what I'm here for. That's what I'm training for for the tour to France. So, uh I heard we had the same time at the top and I couldn't I just couldn't take the risk on the descent for uh for the stage win. So, it was just a I knew I had quite a big gap already over the main guys, Veno, Vandenbrook. So I just played it safe and um got myself home safely. Um great setting in Grenobyl and um hopefully they do a bit of tarmacing on some parts of the course. But uh yeah, it was fantastic. Really, really nice course. So Bradley Wing sounding very comfortable and confident there, but he knows from exactly where the [music] next attacks are going to come. Don't forget the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra continues tomorrow at 5. With a few obstacles in their way, it should [music] be a time for the sprinters to come out and shine. The pace will be pushed to its limit in an action-packed stage. It's stage four of the craterium dudina tomorrow at 5 on versus. And for a full schedule, [music] don't forget to log into our website at nbcports.com. And you can follow us on Twitter at bs cycling. [music] Tune in tonight though at 7:30 for game four of the NHL Stanley Cup final presented by Geico. It should be a humdinger. [music] Congratulations to the winner of the time trial today, Tony Martin. We didn't expect that win coming from him, but it was a good one. Until tomorrow night, I'm Paul showing [music] for mo saying goodbye into the former home of the Dukes of Burgundy in M. [music] Today's flat stage should be a host to a fast finish for the lords of the sprint. Yesterday, the individual time trial provided a serious resuffling to the top of the overall standings in this year's criterium dofina. Time trial specialist Tony Martin [music] set a blistering time which no one could top. But the real battle was for the yellow jersey. Stepping up to the plate was Bradley Wiggins. [music] No slouch in the time trial himself. The Sky Rider finished second on the day. But more importantly, a disappointing ride by Alexander Vineorov [music] put Wiggins into the overall lead. Today, the yellow jersey contenders should take a backseat to the sprinters as a flat route should give American Tyler Farah a chance to flex his speed one final time before the [music] tour to France. Stage four of the criterium dofid is next on versus [music] [music] >> [music] >> There'll be some very hungry sprinters out there today as we face up to the final flat stage of this year's criterium dopion. Hello and welcome to Epic Cycle presented by Michelob Ultra. I'm Paul Shon alongside me Bob [music] Ro. Before we start to talk about the sprinters, let's think about what the time trial taught us yesterday. Well, on a nearly identical course for this summer's tour to France, we had a wild time trial, massive movement in the overall standings. I don't think one rider stayed in the same place, and we had huge time gaps. Not only will that be decisive here for the Doofine, it's going to create incredibly suspenseful end to the tour to France this summer. >> Yes. The man who made the best of his performance in the individual time trial was Bradley Wiggins. Second on the stage, just behind Tony Martin. But for him, he put time between himself and all of the other pre-race favorites. Here's confirmation of the time gaps. Quite big already. [music] Cadell Evans down to 111 behind. Yanni Brachovich third. Overnight leader Alexander Vinor off tumbling from first to fourth. Get Thomas of team Sky up there in sixth position. Ben Hermans [music] of Radio Shack in ninth place. And rounding out the top 10, Jerem Coppel. Bob the notables. Robert Hasting [music] moves up to 28th place. A decent ride in the time trial. Matthew Duche hanging tough in 31st. Tony Martin moves all the way up to 90th. A very exciting time trial yesterday. That was yesterday. Today should be a big day for the sprinters as we head all the way up to MO which has hosted in the past sprint finishes at the Tour to France and of course some very tight individual time trials. Bob, it's a really good route today for the sprinters. It's very flat towards the finish line into M, but there are a few climbs that the Pelaton will have to take note of early on in the race. category two to start the proceedings right out of the box and then there's two cat fours depending on the w which way the wind blows we should be in for a big field sprint maybe the only chance in this week in this year's doof for the sprinters to rule yes and if we have a quick look at the profile there you can see the ripples to the start of the race but once we get through to the second climb of the day at kzure it really then starts to get extremely flat and the riders have a very fast finish into Macon right away alongside of the river mode. Well, as we go down to the live action from today's Criterium Dina, stage four, a long ride, as we mentioned, two riders getting clear very early on after just 4 kilometers. Jeremy Wah of FDJ and Adonio Malori of team Lamprey. They built themselves a maximum lead of 4 minutes and 25 seconds, but as we get to 28 1/2 kilometers to go, 17 miles of racing, the main field is pretty much under control of the teams of the sprinters. Bob, this really is the last chance for the sprinters to have a go. >> Today is the last chance. Three gigantic mountain stages to close out this year's criterium to Doofine. The last three days are going to be absolutely brutal. One last stage for the sprinters, but these two riders in the breakaway are not making it any easier. The gap is 2 and 1/2 minutes plus with uh just just under 30 km. We're about 17 miles to go to the finish line. >> Well, there have been three climbs out on the course. the kusha the first one the kot de pesu and the kot de chation la palo and it's malerie that went over the top of those in first place on every occasion but probably more importantly in the main field behind always led over by Leonardo Duk the Colombian rider from team coffee so he should theoretically be the new leader of the king of the mountains classification tonight as we look into the faces of the riders here from HTC most of the work early on Bob I think was really done by team GLA who really must be feeling they've got a great chance of victory today with their man Tyler Farah. >> Tyler Farah the sprinter for the garment squad will want to sharpen his swords before the tour to France upcoming. He's going to have to square off against JJ Hayet in this sprint. The rider from Saxo Bank. Saxo Bank hasn't done a lot of work so far, but Garmin Curvell must be really hoping for something big from Tyler Farah today. They have done the brunt of the work. Also good to see HTC High Road mixing up in the front. They already have two stage wins in the Doofine. That is Yan Quesolink from Belgium. and on the HTC Hyro Squad and he's been mixing it in with the Garmin Curvell lineup. Two American teams dominating the proceedings in today's finale. That's great to see. It certainly is. Johnny Wells, the team manager for Gin Sevel was talking a very good game for Tyler Farah just a little bit earlier on. He felt that they had the good organization. They had the firepower to get him into the position to try and get himself the victory. Although Brad McGee, team man with Saxang, if we look at the speed here at 60 kilometers an hour, I'll translate for you. That's 42 mph these riders are doing and that's going to be very difficult to pull them back at speeds like that. They're obviously picking up a slight tailwind. Little bit of a tailwind coming into the finishing town. Pelaton has had a very tough time getting this this uh advantage brought back into the fold of these two riders. They were tantalizingly close for a number of kilometers, but they've kept that gap pretty steady. It's going to be a very desperate chase to the finish. Garin Seville has been doing a tremendous amount of work. It was the Sky Team, their leader, Bradley Wiggins, in the yellow jersey as race leader. They didn't need to keep the gap that close. They kept it around 5 minutes. And that's the disadvantage Jeremy W started the stage with. And now that gap is under two minutes and 35 seconds, just at 234. And so for the Sky Team, the day is just to sit back and watch the Sprinters teams take over and protect their man in the yellow jersey. You can see him just at the just behind the tip of the spear of the Pelaton. There's Bradley Wiggins just on the left hand side of your screen. >> The man in the white jersey with the red and white bands around the middle there is Heran Thomas. Despite the fact that he's working here for Bradley Wiggins, he's actually himself very high up in the overall standings, looking at sixth place at the start of the day. So, as we look at 25 kilometers to go, the main field know exactly what they have to do to pull back the two leaders. We'll take a very [music] short break and come back soon. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelobe Ultra on versus the superior lightbeer perfectly balanced for the ultralife and brought to you by physique. [music] Check out Physique's new highperformance R1 and R3 road shoes at physique.com. [music] [singing] [singing] >> [music] >> Say, [singing] [singing] [music] welcome back. As we just see the banner indicating 25 kilometers to go to the finish line. These are the two leaders still holding on to just inside of a two and a half minute advantage. The rider on the front there in the pink and blue jersey of team Lampre is Adriano Malori. He's a very young rider just 22 years of age, part of the Renaissance I'd have to say. But in 2008 he was the world time trial champion at the under 23 discipline of the sport. Joined here by the white jersey Jeremy Wah who earlier this season bomb but got himself a very good victory in the opening event of the year the Grand Prix mas. Jeremy Wah, Frenchman on the FDJ squad will be looking for the tour to France in a couple of weeks starting in the far northwestern corner of the country and all the French riders very aggressive. They don't have a big sprinter on that team so they need to go in the breakaways. Adrianiano Malori a young a young rider be good to see him in the breakaway. Great time trial and he's been using those skills throughout today's proceedings as well. There's a lot of work being done by HTC Bob as you mentioned the Belgian rider Yan Hilink. He's the one in the white jersey on the front now doing a lot of the pacemaking. But look at the organized line out behind him. Second in the line there. That's Dan Dan forgotten his name. Dan Lloyd. Too many Dans on this team. Dan Lloyd, Dan Martin. There is Tyler Farah looking very concentrated. The yellow jersey there on the face of Bradley Wiggins. Right in front of Tyler Farah is Julian Dean >> and Andreas Clear. And I would have to give there's Dave Zabriski also just tucking into the lefth hand side of your screen there between Saxo Bank for JJ Hayedo and the team from the United States Garin Curvello. I would give it about 50/50 for the firepower they have for the lead out of the sprint. I think that Tyler Farah on his day a little bit faster perhaps than JJ Hay in these long stage races. JJ Hayo a very fast man. He got a stage win here last year in the Dofina and success generally breeds success especially amongst the sprinters and I would give it about about half and half between those two teams as far as firepower in the lead out coming into the final few hundred meters of the stage. Well, talking to Brad McGee, the team manager of Saxo Bank, he said that JJ Hayedo was extremely nervous this morning. He hasn't won a race since the month of March. And I would have to say that he'll be looking again this afternoon. Plus, he's got the ability of having his brother with him, Lucas Hayed, Sebastian Hayedo. They can work together on the running towards a finish. And the one of them that feels the best can lead out the other guy. And watch for Brian Vanborg from Saxo Bank to do maybe the last couple of kilometers before the real hairy carry business starts before the final kilometer of the bike race in the field sprint. >> Well, in fact Johnny Weltz was also saying that he felt one of the biggest challenges for the Tyler Farah in the sprint coming down the finishing line was the man who won two days ago John Deenold because they are talking about him being possibly the next Eric Zel. Well, Dean Cole had a great stage win out on stage number two. It looked like Sammy Dumolan had the best chance to win. His team was dedicated. He had a great lead out. He was in perfect position and Denko basically had to do that sprint by himself the final kilometer. It was slightly uphill with a lot of twists and turns. So not exactly the same as today's sprint, but that was a great finish by Denov to get a big stage win and that gave Tony Martin perhaps a little bit extra incentive and his own teammate on HTC High Road got the stage win yesterday. >> Interesting. You mentioned Tony Martin there. We were a little bit surprised by his lack of form in the first couple of stages, especially the mountaintop finish. But he explained it all after the time trial yesterday when he said, "Well, basically, I've been a long way away from the sport. I've been having a little bit of downtime starting to build myself up to the tour to France in July, and that's why I wasn't so good. But now, you can see I've got the legs and got the form." And he honestly believes with that ride in the individual time trial yesterday, he could be looking at a top 10 position in the Tour to France this year. >> Well, he started out the tour to France 37th overall in 2009. He slipped quite a ways down. Excuse me, 35th. He was 137th in last year's tour to France, but he was second in the final time trial to none other than Fabian Canel. And that was a very, very exciting stage. Well, if you can see the length of the main field here, Bob, that's an indication that there's a lot of pressure at the front end of the main field. Now, you don't want to be riding at the back, especially as you're going through the outskirts here of Mac, because it can be extremely dangerous. We've seen one or two little crashes so far this afternoon as these two riders now they've lifted their pace at the same time as the main field lifted their pace and they going to be quite difficult to catch especially with the fact that you know that Adriano Malori has been a very good time trialist in his career. He's still got a lot of firepower under his belt. Well, very clever tactics being employed by the two men in the breakaway. They never got that huge uh advantage that sets off big alarms in the Pelaton. The Sky team did a great job to keep Bradley Wiggins just there within about a 5minute gap. But then right when the Pelaton started to accelerate, so did the breakaway. They have a very good chance to stay away. They might get caught within the last couple of hundred meters of this bike race. Well, you know, the thing is about the teams like Gin Seella, they know just exactly what amount of pressure they have to put on the front end of the main field to catch the two breakaways. For the moment, we're getting closer and closer to the outskirts of Macon. We'll take a very short break. Come back soon. Saturday, the Isizard Indie Car Series [music] continues on versus with the Firestone Twin 275s. When the Texas sun goes down, the lights come up [music] for back-to-back shootouts. For the first time ever, two champions will be crowned in one night, Saturday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, only on Versus. Looking at the two leaders now, they're starting to nurture. I think Boba thought they might survive on a day like this because the main field over the 50 to 30 kilometer point pull back only one minute. And now over the last 10 km, they pull back another minute. They're still on the recipe, the main pelaton to catch that breakaway group. But at 20 km to go, if you were one of these two riders, would you start to be thinking, I might just get away with it today? >> I would start hoping. Right now, 2 minutes and 7 seconds, it's been very steady. There's basically been the Garmin Curvella team with Johan Vansumer doing a lot of the work. One rider from HTC has also been doing some of the work. That's Yan Queselink from Belgium. But these two riders, the gap is starting to creep up a little bit. That's quite amazing with under 20 km to go, 12 miles to go in the bike race. And we're right there at that magic the equation that we use. 1 minute per 10 kilometers of advantage. You need to stay away. That's when you're by yourself. When you have a a comrade in arms here like Jeremy Wah and Adrian Naloi do have with each other, there is a decent chance that they could stay away. I would give them about a 30% chance. >> Oh, I think I give him 10% actually, Bob. But look at this now. You can see the big organization coming. There's two big teams at the front. HTC High Road and they're very keen to work hard at the front and GL they know today that their man Tyler Farah is going to be really looking for the win. And the man on the front is the American time trial champion Dave Zabriski. Dave Zabriski deep into that aerodynamic tuck. He's trying to close this gap down. They've brought the big guns out now and they must be very worried that the breakaway might not get caught. So Dave Zubriski with 12 mi to go has gone to the front and you can see the gap just immediately start tumbling. Dave Zabriski one of the best time trials in the world and he's having a great season. He's got a couple of big time trial wins already so far this year. Well, heading into Macon is a time to maybe remember that it used to be the seat of the Duchy of Burgundy and in fact it's twin town with Mon Georgia. Did you know that, Bob? >> I did not know that. >> Well, there we go. We can see the speed now as the main field are really starting to lick their lips. The sprinters and I've got four or five sprinters here who've got a very good chance of the victory this afternoon. Obviously, the American Tyler Farah is looking for the win. JJ Hayedo for Saxo Bank. He wants to get himself up there. And why not Sammy Deulah who was so close to getting the victory the other day got himself second place and Sebastian Eno of France >> and keep an eye out for Paul Martin from Robo Bank and like you said from AG2R also maybe Sebastian Eno I was a little bit surprised to see him up on the sprint in stage number two but he must be feeling pretty good getting ready for the tour to France and fancing his chances in the sprint also >> but if that's going to be the scenario something has to happen and that what has to happen is these two riders have to be pulled back into the fold we've now started to see the series as you the big firepower of team Garmin Sevel who this year that the team again every year since Jonathan Wat has put this team together it's got bigger and better and stronger and this year during the classics they probably had the most solid team oh most definitely with a win in Peru Bay you can sit back for a few months or maybe even years and uh and just polish your trophy occasionally that was Johan Vansumeran it's amazing that a big star especially a Belgian rider who has won Perry Rubé is still doing the teamwork for his man Tyler Farah And that's just the how bike racing works. And it's been great to see Johan Vansumer on the front trying to chase down this very dangerous breakaway. >> Well, M seen many finishes of the tour to France in his past and with victories going to riders like Miguel Indurrain and even Lance Armstrong in the individual time trials there. But I always think about M in 1991 and there's a guy by the name of Yatislav Ekimoff came out of the pack with about 4 kilometers to go. Normally Bob that's impossible but he held off the whole field. One of the few times in the history of the Tour to France when one rider was able to solo to the finish line when the sprinters teams were all queued up and just cranking along at about 60 km per hour. Viatislav Ekimov was able to get a tiny little gap and ride that all the way to the finish line. That was a glorious win in this town where we're finishing today. Mol. >> Well, a man who's got Olympic medals, got his first Olympic gold medal back in 1988 in Seoul and the team pursuit is a great rider. road I think 14 times he participated in the tour to France. He would have ridden a 15th but he crashed just before the tour and got a slight fracture in his neck. Allowed to do a procession by himself in the front of the tour to France Pelaton a few years ago. A great ambassador to the sport and a very classy rider vatimov and now working for the rael bank squad and keeping that team up in the headlines. And Yanni Brachovich looking very dangerous. He starts the day third overall. minute 21 seconds behind, but his favorite ground is coming up in the last three days of the week. Friday, Saturday, especially in the high mountains and Sunday to Latus. It's going to be a very exciting three days of the Dofine. >> Well, actually, when you mention that, Bob, I'm I'm a bit surprised because I don't think I can cast my mind back to see such a difficult finish to the Dofina li the criterium doofine. And there is a lot of climbing. Some magnificent views will be had over the next three days. So, you mustn't miss it at all. But Dave Zabriski's on the front. He's doing the job for the team. We'll take another short break and see how much closer they're getting to the two men in front. So, welcome back. 15 kilometers to go and look at the speeds that we're recording out on the Criterium Dof this afternoon. That's 65 km now. pops almost 45 mph in the main pack. >> Well, the Pelaton is absolutely flying. The Garmin Curvella team has been doing the brunt of the work. They must believe strongly in Tyler Farah. Tyler Farah looking to deliver on the goods here today. The one real chance for the pure sprinters on today's stage. We have a few of them here in the Criterion Dina. Most of the teams not bringing their big sprinters because of such a mountainous profile in this year's edition of the Criterium Dina. Well, the riders at the front end of the main field have been really ticking away at that advantage. It's been slicing it slowly but surely from the four minutes it was when they started the chase and it's now down to a minute and 20 seconds. And it's all really because of the work of two big powerful teams on the front who both think their sprinters are going to get the victory this afternoon. It's Garmin for Tyler Farah and of course it's HTC for John Deen Gulp. Don John Deen Culp surprising win perhaps a young rider just 22 years of of age from Germany stage number two getting a great stage win he was absolutely thrilled to be able to do that he's got one teammate out on the front mixing it with the team Garmin Curvell and Dave Zabriski is down in the aerodynamic position absolutely flying across these roads 60 km an hour that's going to be a tough closing 15 km just under 10 miles to go >> well just inside of 10 miles to go for the main field And you can see the urgency of the pedaling of these riders at the back end of the main field. And Bob, there's a little bit of moisture starting to appear on the road. I wonder if that was just a late late spring shower that's come down here. And there's a good study there of the the TGV, the TR G Vest. It's the highspeed train in France that travels in an average speed of 180 mph, but it actually s did a world record a couple of years ago and it was recorded at 518 km an hour. You wouldn't want to be a fly hitting that, would you? [laughter] >> Uh, no. Most certainly not. I think the the Pelaton rifling the speed of the TGV here on the finishing run into the town in Makoma. We're just in the outskirts of town. Dave Zabri been doing incredible turns at the front. Daniel Lloyd has also been doing the the hard work and great to see Johan Vansummerin recently crowned the champion of Perry Rubé this year. It's not his time, it's not his day. So, he's doing the work. When you have this espree core that translates into big wins. A lot of teams don't are are less are less willing to do that are much more reluctant. And the riders that can work together they can get lots of wins from a variety of riders and those are the most successful teams in cycling now and that was uh introduced by the American squads and they're continuing to dominate the proceedings in the in the finale of today's stage. Well Tony Martin Bob he said that he wanted to reference how good he rode in the individual time trial yesterday and he used Dave Zabriski as a marker. cuz just recently ch crowned the American national time trial champion. Tony Martin beat him by 58 seconds. That's a fair ride. >> That is a great ride by Tony Martin. Four weeks out of competition leading into the doofina. So Tony Martin could be excused for not being on perfect form the first couple of days, but now obviously Tony Martin starting to fire on all cylinders. If he does a tour to France, he's looking for top 10 in the tour. That's not totally impossible. We'll have to keep a close eye on Tony Martin in the closing three stages here in the high mountains of the Doofine. >> Well, there it is. The one minute mark going around that corner. Nasty little piece of traffic furniture. Look how those guys handled that. And you can see the yellow jersey on the right hand side. Bradley Wiggins being very attentive at the front end of the main field because he wants to be able to choose his line going around these corners. But that was a bit dodgy. >> That is a bit dodgy when half the field jumps over the median. The other half has to sort of fend for themselves. But Bradley Wiggins very prudent there. close to the front, followed his teammates, stayed on the tarmac. When you jump onto the medians, there's all kinds of different gravel on there and a lot of broken glass. It's easy to get a flat tire. It's much better idea to stay on the road. Well, that's why Johan Vans's come to the front and he's stamping out a very vicious pace, but team GLA are extremely well organized. But when we go to the victories, Bob, where we take a couple of sprinters, Tyler Far has had three wins so far this year. But young John Deenol, but 22 years of age, he's already had five wins so far this season. Five wins. And uh not looking for the tour to France this year from Dean Cole, but in the years to come, I'm most certain he will be up there. And in the sprints, Tyler Farah starting to become a bit of a veteran in the the sprints now. and uh he is getting into the very absolute best part of his career and he is at the top of his game when he's firing. >> You might just have noticed the two team cars stopped at the right hand side of the road. Now they will have been stopped by the race referees. The race referees obviously believe that the race is starting to come back together very quickly indeed. But these two will not give up at all until they've got the wheel the wheels of the main field right behind them again. Look at that again. A little bit of sketchy traffic furniture. Bob, you've got to be so attentive in this day and age. Well, when the field hits those uh those I guess you could see emergency markers for that dangerous corner and the two guys no problem to get through there. We'll have to hope that the Pelaton can get around those safely. >> But you know as well as I do that the the riders in the professional pelon they actually communicate and they they communicate to the guys behind them especially when something dangerous comes up. >> You got to point just to the side. Wherever you go around an obstacle, you point it out so the rider behind you who can't really see that well in front because he's sitting on the wheel has a chance to avoid it. Also, here it is for the Pelaton. Let's hope they can get through there. That's why it's so important to stay in the front if you want to win one of these big bike races. >> And it's also important, isn't it, Bob, to to make sure that you keep a a main field fast on the running towards the finish because the faster it is, the more stretch out it is, the more alert riders are, the less chance of crashes. >> Yeah, that's a good point also. And you can see the riders twisting and turning, weaving through there, jumping out of the way of these cones. It looks like everybody made it through. I'm surprised they left those in the road. They maybe should have taken them out before the Pelcon got there. >> Well, as we come now down to 10 km to go, 6 milesi of racing, the gap is starting to plummet. These two riders are hoping to survive all the way onto the roads of ML. Straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros, compete against local cyclists, and track your own performance. So [music] grab your GPS device now and get started at straa.com/ver. Straa, built for cyclists. [music] 10 kilometers to go, six miles of racing for the two survivors of the very early morning breakaway because these two riders escaped after just 4 kilometers. The aggression started from the man in the back there in the white shirt and white shorts and that was Jeremy Roa. They built themselves that lead of four and a half minutes, but never were they given so much freedom. There's a bit of a problem at the back here, Bob. Looks like uh that is Bryce Fyu with a little bit of a problem. He's going to need There's Fabian Beckman perhaps coming back to help or they might be waiting for one of their teammates. >> Well, they are waiting but there somebody else has had a mechanical problem I would say here for team Leopre looking back over his shoulder. Bryce Felu. He's finally managed to get himself onto a top team, hasn't he, Bob? Having missed out on selection for the tour to France over the last couple of seasons by not really being on one of the top squads. Well, it's very surprising for a Frenchman. He won a stage up into Andor that was a spectacular stage win as a very young professional and he struggled with smaller teams and lacking that invite to the tour to France, but he's on Leopard Trek now. And of course, we have two of the very best bike racers in the world on that team, Frank and Andy Schle. And of course, Fabian Canelara, he'll be riding the tour of Switzerland, which you could see on Versus next week as well with everyday coverage. And it starts off with a very interesting 7.4 kilometer individual prologue time trial around the streets of Lugano, a place that you know very well. >> Lugano, just near the border of uh Italy. I spent a lot of my career living in Ko, just across the border from Lugano, Switzerland in Italy. And it's an absolutely gorgeous place to ride. It'll be a great backdrop for the prologue of the tour Switzerland. Well, this is going to be a great backdrop too as well because very shortly we'll be in the outskirts of Mac right along the sides of the river zone and still Gin Sevel dedicated to the work that has to be done at the front end of the main field. And look at the faces of these riders. They really are starting to dig deep. Bob, >> that is Dave Zabriski. When he takes a reefing pull at the front of the Pelaton, it's very painful. Sometimes it's hard to even come through and take your turn at the front. But that looked to be Andreas Clear and Yan Vansin still doing the work. They still have some work to do. 33 seconds and the very dangerous traffic islands continue to plague the Pelaton. >> I tell you what, Bob, I think it's a little bit unfair of Dave Zabriski as well because when he rides at the front, he's in such a low tuck position. You don't really get that much draft off him. >> No, you have to be in very good shape just to be able to come around Dave Zabriski and take your turn at the front. Replay of the this very dangerous traffic circle. Riders trying to hop the curbs. You do not want to go through the plants there, but it looks like the Pelaton, they're getting to be very good bike handlers. Got through that safely. That's amazing. >> Well, it's now inside of 30 seconds the advantage. And very shortly, Bob, I would say that the main field, they should be able to see the prey, the prey that they've been chasing over the last few kilometers. You can see the battle for position about halfway through the Pelaton. And riders don't want to give an inch, but also they don't want to hit the traffic circle and crash. So, uh, you have to slam on the brakes and rerint. It's so hard to do the finale of a bike race from halfway back to the back of the field. >> Well, 7.6 km, that's 5 miles of racing almost and 26 seconds the advantage. Paul, I'm going to put you on the line right now. Will they survive? >> They will not survive. They're going to be caught and uh it'll be very close to the finish line, but unless something dramatic happens in the field, they're about to get caught. 25 seconds is the advantage. And just momentarily, the Pelaton, if there's a bit of a straightaway, will be able to see the two in front. Then they know that they can tack it back when they need to. >> Well, that's the big problem for these two riders because the roads are wide and fast, and that gives the main field the advantage of getting themselves nicely organized at the front end of the pack. It's amazing how the field splits up and comes back together again around these traffic circles as we're looking at speeds approaching 50 km, 31 mph in the Pelaton, but there's a bit of disorganization coming through here. And Cadel Evans is moving to the front with his riders from BMC in the red and black. >> Strange to see Cerello has absolutely Garmin Curvello vanish from the front of the field. I'm wondering if there's not been a problem to one of their riders. They've done a lot of work so far. Dave Zabriski seems to be the last man from that squad still in the front. Maybe Tyler Farah has gotten a flat tire there. Uh but we'll have to see. It's uh you don't often see the whole team vanish from the front of the field. Sometimes one rider or two riders do because they are tired from doing the work, but never a whole team like that. So something must have happened to one of the garment of riders. >> We'll find out shortly. That was Leonardo Duke just sitting on the back end of the main field in that red jersey and he's going to be the leader of the King of the Mountains classification tonight having finished third on all of the three climbs out on the course. 21 seconds. Liquigas in the Liquid Gas Canningale in their lime green jerseys over on the right hand side. But there's a bit of panic on board here now, Bob, as we get closer and closer towards the finishing line. >> Well, these twists and turns and technical corners will give the advantage to the two riders in the front, especially since we don't see a big organization now. We're getting close to 5 km to go and that gap is stabilized at 21 seconds. >> Well, as we look at the two leaders looking over their shoulders now, they can almost feel the breath of the main field on the back of their necks. We're looking at four miles to go. We'll take a very short break and line up for the streets of Macon next. Heat. Heat. Two leaders sitting on the front here. Adriano Malori of team Lampre in second position. Jeremy Roa. They had hoped they would survive on a day like this. They would hoped to to outf fox the sprinters, but the sprinters have not had a lot to shout about in the criterium dofina this year, which is why we've seen a big job of work being done by the team for the sprinters. That of course is Gin Sevel and HTC. Bob, it's all over now. Pretty much bar the shouting, but you have to now fight in the front part of that main field to stay in the right position. Well, big wide boulevard here for the position battle to begin just before the sprint gets underway. Riders getting into position now. Teams trying to move their sprinters up. Julian Dean did not do a lot of work. He's a leadout man for Tyler Farah in that chase. But that was a very tough chase for Garmin Sevel. And one has to wonder if they have enough firepower left to do an adequate lead out for Tyler Farah. >> Well, Tyler Farah and of course Julian Dean get on extremely well together. You have to when you're a sprinter have a great pilot fish to lead you and put you into the right position at the right time to try and come up with the win. Those two riders there, they will not give up at all. But there's a complete change to the front end of the midfield now, Bob, because we got we got Kazakhstan's Astana on the left hand side in the turquoise. I think they're just pro protecting the position of Alexander Vinorov. But the team making the lead out is the white jersey train of HTC High Road. >> HTC High Road timing this perfectly inside of 5 km, less than 3 mi to the finish line. They've come to the front. Theoretically, they've been saving their energy to do the big lead out. John Degan Genko must fancy his chances on today's stage. >> Well, he's obviously had a quick word with his teammates. These two survivors, Bob, at just outside of 4 km to go, still holding on to a slim 11sec advantage. But the Pelaton now, they always seem to be able to judge this to perfection. And especially this team on the front, the team of normally, we would say of Mark Cavendish, but today it's going to be the team of John Deen. >> Maybe a bit of a dress rehearsal for the squad for the Tour to France. When we see this day in and day out on the flat stages for the sprinters and Mark Cavendish, he almost always delivers the good. That is a great way for a team to bring up a rider like Dean Culp. They know exactly the tactics needed. There is absolutely no doubt about their ability to do the lead outs. >> Well, they know how to do it. They've done it many times. That's a famous river son. Very long and well-known river in France. And here we're about to turn onto the banks of the zone and line up for a very long 3 and 12 kilometers. I'm amazed, Bob. But those two riders on the front are still surviving. But 5 seconds, how much longer can they hold on? Only six seconds now. The time gap, 3.3 kilometers inside of three miles. Now you see the Garmin Zarello riders, they did all of the damage to the breakaway. They've spent themselves. Now they're just sitting on the back of the field trying to get to the finish line. In the meantime, at the front of the field, HTC Hyro has come to the front. >> Well, now just notice in about seventh or eighth position, Tyler Faroh was there. The big American sprinter on the American team, Garmin Sevel. And these two riders will not give up the ghost. They said to the main field, "Guys, if you want to win the stage, you're going to have to really suffer hard to try and get yourselves up to our back wheels." So, still the organization, still HTC, but moving up the outside, I noticed the black and white jerseys of of Garmin Sevel. And that would probably be Julian Dean looking to pace his man Tyler Farah up into an ideal position. But there's a lot of riders from Team Sky over on the left hand side. Looks like Juan Antonio Fletcher. >> Liquigas moving into the frame as well. the green jerseys from the Italian team, Liuig Cannondale. Here is the damage at the back of the field. They're going to do a big Uturn. They'll have a chance to look across this median and see the finishing straightaway. And they just saw the 1 km to go and there is the catch. 2 km 2.1 km to go 1.2 miles left in the bike race. Well, Lequid Gas Cannondale at the front now in the pale pale green jerseys with the blue shoulders. They are now also mixing it up at the front end of the main field. This is the moment. There's a little skirmish there going to come from the Rabbo Bank rider. Rabo Bank have also got a very good sprinter Paul Martins. >> Paul Martins very strong sprinter was up there on stage number two in that very twisting turning sprint. It was great to see the rider from France. Thomas, >> excuse me, I can't remember. >> Thomas Vocler. Yes, that's it. >> He created a bit of a bit of chaos on the run towards that finish line on the outskirts of of Leon. But now you can see one or two riders taking risks going around the corner trying to stay in the first 15 20 positions. Now they're lining themselves up very shortly. They will see the bridge over the road indicating 1 kilometer to go to the finish. Good organization still. You've got Garmin Sele at the front end of the main field, but nobody's actually got a strangle hold on the Pelon. >> Well, a bit of an accordion effect now. The the whole field fanned out across the road. Little bit of pushing and shoving there. That is Tyler Farah fighting for the wheel of Julian Dean. Tony Martin there on the front of the field. This is great riding here. Tyler Farah fighting through that wheel. Now he's in fourth wheel just behind the rider from the rabble bank squad. >> And Dean Cop right onto the wheel of the American there. They're all waiting. They're all looking across their shoulders. This is really a nervous moment when you're a sprinter. Julian Dean is right up at the front end. Looks as if Farah is up into second place. He's a little bit too close to the front for the moment, but they're getting swapped. There's an organization on the right hand side. Garren Thomas, the British national champion. He's trying to lead out. Maybe they're going to do the lead out today for Boseen. Bosen Hogen there just on the left hand side of the road getting on the wheel of Garen Thomas. This is going to be a long hard sprint for the riders from the garment squad. Julian Dean coming to the front a little bit too far from the finish line. Half a mile to go. >> Well, Garen Thomas now sixth overall, but he's very happy and prepared to work for his teammates in a movement like this. You can see Omega Farmer Lotto trying to move up on the outside, but when Garen Thomas gets to the front, Bob, he really can turn a really mean speed. He's done some great lead outs throughout the season. Then they've come up with a lot of good stage wins. The sky team absolutely dominating the doofine and trying to do a lead out now for Ed Valdasen Hogan. Well, there you've got Thomas has pulled off. That'll be Bosen Hogan in second position there. Right on his wheel. There is Tyler Far trying to keep himself up at the front of the main field. There you can see Astana moving up down the outside as well. But now it's up to Julian Dean on the front. There's the kick now coming from Benhagen. Bzenhogen over there with the boy. It's an unbelievable move by Bzenhogen who's getting challenged by Dean Culp in the white jersey of TH HTC and they're coming up to the line. It's neck and neck on the line. It's going to be the man who throws his bike and I think well I think it was Dean Culp again there Bob. It was very very close indeed. I'd like to get a side shot of that one. Dean Cob there just getting the better of Boas and Hogan. Very disappointing. Tyler Ferry not a factor. They had to start from a long ways out. Dean Cul there digging deep and just barely getting the better of Bhassan Hogan. Look at his face there, Bob. He's not quite sure. Did I? Didn't I? But when you're a sprinter, you have an instinct, don't you? All of a sudden, you know whether you've got your wheel across the line in front of everybody else. Have a look at this one more time. This is the acceleration started from Bzenhogen. And look at Deen Cobb on the left hand side. Denho Denob goes left. Bohassen Hogan has already started his sprint and that is a long ways out. You can see Tyler Far right in the middle of your screen in the black and white jersey. not quite with the the the high-end speed needed for today's sprint. He's going to fade a little bit there, but Dean Cole now just barely getting the better of Bohazanaga in the last 50 meters of the bike race. >> And right up as well, the one of the HiO brothers goes across the line there in third place. I think that was JJ. >> Well, a great win this man. He came out and let's not forget this is the third win in a row for HTC High Road. The American team from St. Louis Abyspo >> replay here. >> Well, looking at this, this is Bzenhogen at this moment. He thought he'd got it, but just look at the power in Dean, the German rider. He really digs deep. He's got a fine acceleration over that last 30 to 40 meters. And I think once again, Bob, HTC have got themselves another sprinter. >> Another sprinter on the block for the HTC High Road Squad. Bradley Wiggins, a solid defense of the jersey. I'll tell you, Sky has come hungry and ready to race in the Dofina. Even mixing it in in the sprints for Bohasan Hogan and a great defense of the yellow jersey for Bradley Wiggins. >> So John Deenovi gets a second win at the Criterium Dofier, sixth win of the year. We'll take another short break. [music] When we come back, we'll be on the podium and get an interview with the winner. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on Versus the superior light beer perfectly balanced for the ultralife and brought to you by Straa [music] built for the avid cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver. And by Clean Bottle, the bottle that unscrews [music] at both ends for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI Performance Bikes or atbottle.com. Clean bottle. Ride clean. [music] >> Welcome back to Macka on the banks of the river zone where we've just witnessed a very fast [music] finishing sprint by John Dean. I have to say, Bob, with 50 m to go, I didn't think he was going to get it. Well, the German speedster digging deep there in the final kick to the line for the American HDC highro squad. They always find the fast sprinter on that team. They certainly do. So, here's confirmation of those results. Sentinel getting himself to victory just ahead of Edward Booseenhogen. [music] JJ Hayeda was right up there in third place and inside of the top five at William Bonet. Looking further down, a bit [music] of a surprise really. Tyler Farah in sixth place, Sammy Dumula in eighth and Kenny de Hayes of Belgium [music] in 10th. So the Michelob ultimate ride of the day today has to go to John Deenov with a fine last 50 m. John Deen Cobb sprinting around a bunch of traffic just in front of him. Didn't have a real lead out at the end. He managed the sprint himself and he was able to just barely get the better of goat who had a great lead out from his teammate Garen Thomas. But you got to hand it to Denov, one of the big names to be reckoned with in the sprints in the years to come. Yes, that's why we've given him the Michelob Ultra ride of the day. >> Well, for the third time in as many days, an HTC High Road rider climbing onto the top step of the podium. But for this man, Bob, it's the second time he's done it this week. >> Second time. I'm not sure if he's more pleased with this win than the win on stage number two, but in any any way, shape, or form, no matter how you slice it, that's a great stage win. Vanquishing the entire field in the bunch gallop into Mol. And I think was what a lot of people have said, we could very well be looking at a new Eric Zal for Germany here, but his name is John Deenulp. >> So, let's get confirmation. No real change in the overall standings. [music] Bradley Wiggins still leads this race by a minute and 11 seconds from Cadell Evans. Yani Brackovic still there in third place. Alexander [music] Fakurov holding on to fourth. A little bit further down, Gareth Thomas is riding exceptionally well in sixth place. Jurgen Vandenbrook [music] happy to go back into the mountains in seventh and Jerem Kapul rounds out the top 10. We find Robert Hink in 28th place. Matthew Buché riding strongly in 31st. Those two riders will look to the mountains on [music] the last three days of the Dune to continue moving up and riding well. Way down in 104th. Dave Zabriski doing a tremendous amount of [music] work for his team. Garmin Curvell. Well, here's Bradley Wiggins from the British team Sky climbing onto the top step of the podium. Fairly normal day for him today, Bob. >> Very regular defense of the yellow jersey. His teammates did the work throughout the proceedings of the stage to keep the breakaway pretty close within three or four minutes and then the sprinters teams took over. So for team sky, a great defense of the yellow jersey. But tomorrow, the real work begins. So with that second victory, John Deen Kulpa has also got himself the lead in the green jersey points classification. Let's catch up with him to hear what he thinks about his second win at the Dofina. >> Today was a good day. My my team worked very hard and has a good motivation to to go in a sprint and at the moment I'm not in the in the worst uh shape I think. And yeah, no, I'm I'm feeling really good and I had the punch today. It was a big fight against Boron Hagen and at least I am beat him. My position was not the best, but I had enough punch to to stay in the front and to uh to win this race. For a rider like me, that's a that's a dream to to take the green jersey. It's like a feeling that's a dream of every rider here to have a jersey in a race like this. And yeah, that's fine. It feels really good. >> Well, a confident young man at just 22 years of age. Sixth victory of the season for him. And don't forget, the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra continues tomorrow at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time. An arduous day of riding with high mountain passes that will test the resolve of even the most seasoned climber. It's stage 5 of the criterium to do. And for a full [music] schedule, log on to our website at NBCports.com. You can also follow us on Twitter at vsycling and find us on Facebook at [music] Cycling where you'll find stage predictions from Bob and myself every day. Tomorrow Versus brings you unprecedented coverage of the Belmont Stakes beginning at 400 p.m. Eastern time with the [music] Belmont Classics. Congratulations then to John Deenol for his second win at the Dopina and to HTC for their third win in 3 days. Until tomorrow night, on behalf of Bob Ro, [music] I'm Paul Sheridan saying goodbye. The mountaintop finish in the Alpine Ski Resort of Leger is the first in a trilogy of such [music] finishes in the Alps. These three days will be the final testing ground for many tour to France favorites. A [music] test that no one wants to fail. Just three stages remain in this year's criterium dudine, [music] but they will be the hardest. The pelaton will be forced to suffer through non-stop alpine mountain ascents [music] starting today with a summit finish at Leger. Team skies Bradley Wiggins is currently dressed in yellow as the race leader, but his lead is far from safe [music] with some heavy hitters lined up to go on the offensive. A dangerous trio of Cadell Evans, Yanni Brachovich, and Alexander [music] Vidorov are ready to flex their climbing legs and attack at the first smell of blood. The mountain men will come out for stage five in the criterium to do next on versus [music] [music] [music] >> [music] >> Le may not [music] be the most famous of all the alpine ski resorts, but over the last few years, it's become synonymous with the sport of professional cycling, [music] whether it's road racing or mountain biking. Hello and welcome to the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra. I'm Paul Sherman. Alongside me, Bob Ro. We've got to have a bit [music] of excitement in the voices today, Bob, because this is the first of three big mountain stages. The mountains always provide drama, and today starts three very tough days in the mountains, as hard as any as we will see all year. This is a critical staging point in a tour rider's journey to peak form. >> And one man looking for peak form is already in the yellow jersey. Bradley Wiggins, couple of years ago, fourth overall in the tour to France. The question mark on everybody's lips at the moment is how is he going to handle the mountains and will he have the form that he had two years ago? Well, he leaves this race now by a minute and 11 seconds over Cadell Evans and I still think [music] Yanni Brachovich is a threat in third place while Alexander Vineorov has made no bones at all in fourth place that he will attack. Garren Thomas is a very good ally for Bradley Wiggins. [music] So too are Jurgen Vanderbut will be looking for the attack here this afternoon and watch out for the other Belgium on Radio Shack Ben [music] Hermans. Robert Hasting finds himself in 28th to start the save. Matthew Buchet, the young American, [music] is racing well at 31st. Danny Ping tough and Dave Zabriski still in the bike race as we go into the mountains. Well, the mountains, three days in these alpine passes, all of these mountain roads put a shiver down the spine of the men who are not the greatest climbers in the world, but for some guys [music] it really is going into their playground. Bob, this is the first of a tptic of very difficult days. Parku Wazo is a start town. Leger is the finishing town, but in between big climbs out on the race course. Very technical roads as well. Two category 2 climbs and then very tough long drag up to the finish in Ligger. It's going to be a great day of bike racing. It certainly will be a great day of bike racing, especially when you look at the profile here this afternoon because it is certainly extremely lumpy. Moving away from Park Wiso, it's a long stage at 210 km. You got two second category climbs out on the course, but what this day is all about is that final 10 kilometers up to the mountaintop finish in Leger. So, I'm going down to the live action here. This is Jason McCartney. He put in a very fine attack at 95 kilometers to go and in fact he built himself a huge advantage of 12 1/2 minutes. But over the last 20 kilometers, Bob, everybody realizes how important this mountain top finish is going to be. And there's a lot of teams queuing up at the front to chase him down. >> Stirring ride here by Jason McCartney. Very courageous ride. A lot of kilometers by himself in the front of the Pelaton. At this point with 20 km to go, there's got to be incredible amount of fatigue in the legs of Jason McCartney, the American on the American Radio Shack squad. One of the few Americans in the Dofina this year. Jason McCartney having a great day out on the open roads of the Criterium Dofina. Now we're looking down. We're getting right into the very heart of the Alps. Leger is a very well-known ski resort, but in fact going back to 1996, did you know it's the first place that Cadell Evans actually rode a bike race in France and it wasn't a road race. It was a World Cup mountain bike race. Cadel Evans coming from a big mountain bike background has found a great home on the American BMC squad. Jason McCartney going up the road. I think that's a very good attack uh tactic used by Radio Shack. Probably the best tacticians in the whole sport being run by Johan Brunal. That puts a lot of pressure on Bradley Wiggins teams. And of course, Yanni Brachovich, the defending champion of the Doofine, is in third place overall, 1 minute and 21 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins. And they have to chase Jason McCartney all day. And that puts a lot of fatigue onto the teammates of Bradley Wiggins. And that gives Yanni Brochovich a little bit better chance if uh if if they don't catch Jason McCartney to put in a big a big attack on Bradley Wiggins. I already started to watch this man in the Amzen Tour of California, Bob, which was dominated by Radio Shack. They finished first and second overall, but he was one of the integral parts of the riders when it came to the mountain stages. So, I don't know that they're going to have such an easy ride to pull him back on the final climb up to Lig. >> Well, Jason McCartney had an impressive ride into the stage in the Paso Roads. Singlehandedly demolished the Pelaton and put a lot of pressure on everybody. Chris Hner, of course, his teammate, went on to win. So, great riding so far. And Jason McCartney has come on good form now and he's having a big day out in the first real mountain stage of this year's Dofine. >> Well, we always talk about Leger. It's a small ski resort nestled in the Alps, but it really to me it's always been regarded as a gateway to the big mountain climbs of the tour to France like the colder Juplan the Juv and the big climb up to Morin Avoras which in the past has made one or two riders come unstuck. So now as we look down here, he's got himself into a long rhythm. In fact, when he broke away, Bob, there were three or four riders with him and he broke away on the climb of the K de Montip and that was halfway through the course and the guys with him, they just couldn't stick the pace and he went over the top and started to build up his lead almost immediately. Just under four minutes now with 12 miles remaining in the bike race. That's a a doable a doable gap for Jason McCartney and that would be an incredibly glorious stage win is he was able to hold off the pelaton on today's stage. Well, just looking down this is a crash at the back end of the main field. In fact, one guy has gone down very hard indeed and that is one of the leaders of AG2R. That's Nicholas Roach on the left hand side. >> That is Nicholas Roach just absolutely torn to shreds. A big pile up here on a very fast direction of road. Six or seven riders down and still have not got up. Quickstep man at the front of that line still laying on the ground. Perhaps a broken collarbone and a big cement barrier there on the side of the road and the touch of the wheels and a big pileup and a lot of damage in this particular crash and his teammates are there. This is a very tough crash for Nicolar Ro. >> Yeah, especially the the timing as well, Bob, because we're looking in about 3 weeks time at the start of the tour to France and he's gone down very hard. He was actually looking to do something in this race today and tomorrow because he felt this was the final testing ground for him and the team. >> Good to see that he is at least sitting up at the moment but being attended to by the race doctor and his team manager very slow to get up helmet off. This might be the end of his doofine. Well, that's Matthew Perge over on the right hand side waiting alongside to see whether or not he's going to get back onto his bike. Kristoff Vanson Leavanu over on the left hand side. He's the team manager. He's just making sure the doctor's making sure that there's no concussion. But this man doesn't look like a man who's going to get back on his bike to me. Right hand side of the body. Torn to shreds there. Upper thigh, elbow, blood coming down the arm. Getting back on his machine. Well, this is a very courageous moment for Nikolai Ro. If he can finish off the stage, it would be quite amazing. Well, they have got themselves back up and they're going to try and ride Nicholas Roach back into the race. Sebastian Hinno is the other guy. This rider from Quickstep, Bob, he does not look in very good shape. >> Absolute agony for the Quickstep man. Try to get a number there to see who that is exactly, but that looks like a very tough crash for that rider from the Quickstep squad. Looks like Andy Capel perhaps the man from Quickstep that went down there and has yet to move. He's still laying. He at least he rolled onto his stomach from his back, but maybe a broken collarbone on that for for the man from Quickstep. Well, just looking at the long line of the main fields and they really are stretched now under the pressure of team Europe car at the front. That's the team of Thomas Vocler, the French national champion. I wonder if he wants to have a little attack once we get to Tan. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelobra on versus the [music] superior light beer. Perfectly balanced for the ultralife and brought to you by Straa built for the avid cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ straa.com/ver and buy clean bottle, the bottle that unscrews at both ends [music] for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI performance bikes or at cleanbottle.com. Clean bottle, [music] ride clean. Welcome back to the fifth stage of the criterium deun on the road to Leger. And this is Nicholas Roach at the back torn to shreds after a very nasty accident just a few moments ago. And I think Bob, the reason that crash happened, there were a lot of teammates riding together. They were trying to get to the front before we get into this next town of Tan because that's where the climb really starts proper. So, it's just one of those things that happens when guys are taking a few too many risks. Well, the battle for position is sometimes as hard as the climb itself. And you see a big pelon here. A lot of uh guys with a lot at stake in the doofine preparing for the tour to France. Some riders trying to get a position on those teams. Nikolai Ro trying to fine hone his form uh for the tour to France. maybe uh his teammates just a little bit of inattention and uh going down very hard, torn up on all of his right side of his body. He'll be attended to by the race doctor. At least he's gotten back on his bike. He'll struggle to the finish line and uh for the team AG2R, they'll hope he'll be able to start the next couple of stages of this bike race. Well, just talking to Sha Yates this morning, team manager of the sky team and of course of Bradley Wiggins. He reckons this race, the Dofina this year is going to go right down to the wire and it could even be decided on the last climb of the event up to Latus on Sunday. Well, tomorrow's stage is as hard as any big mountain stage in any of the Grand Tours. And of course on Sunday, Latus a very tough of very very hard climb to finish off the doofine. This is going to be all the way down to the last few kilometers of this bike race to decide the race winner. But what's happening now is all of the riders are trying to set up their leaders. These green jerseys are on the shoulders of the Europe car riders and they're looking after their man in the red, white, and blue jersey, Thomas Vocler. It showed very well, Bob, a couple of days ago in the stage number two, big sprint finish, but a very tough climb. That was the first stage where we saw Denbold get his big stage win. Thomas Vocler, I think he had an attack that was sufficient to win that stage, but he couldn't quite handle the twists and turns in the last few corners before the finish line. Lost his momentum. The Kofid squad for Sammy Du Milan chased him down in that instance. And that really irks you as a bike racer when you're so close for a stage win. It gives you that extra little bit of fire to try out try your next best chance to get that stage win. And Thomas Vogler has put his teammates on the front. They have to take three minutes out of the American Jason McCartney in the last 16.5 km. That's going to be very tough to do. Well, the damage that's being done by the pressure on the front end of the main field is sending one or two riders out of the back of the pack this afternoon. I noticed the yellow jersey of Bradley Wiggins right up at the front end of the main field. Alongside him, his pilot fish this afternoon. Kent Thomas, sixth overall, second place in the best young rider competition. What kind of a man to have alongside you to pace you up the mountains? Well, Garren Thomas is having a great doofina. He's become a solid ally for Bradley Wiggins. He's going to be required to do a lot of work in the finale. I think that uh perhaps even the radio shack man Yanni Brachovich might have a bit of a dig himself. But Thomas Vocler, he would not put his teammates on the front unless he fancied his chance at a stage win. It's still a pretty sizable gap to Jason McCartney who's having a great day on the open roads inside of 10 miles now before the finish. Well, Bob, I would say if this was a flat finish today with 15 kilometers to go, 10 miles of racing and just about 3 minutes, I'd say it's in the bag for Jason McCartney, but unfortunately 10 km of this finish are uphill in a long climb. Very tough climb. We'll see if Jason McCartney hasn't been pacing himself a little bit, conserving enough to get over this last climb and still in the front of the bike race. That would be the the uh the right tactic to use. A lot of these riders will know this climber as we look here at the the man who's been a bit of a revelation this season John Deenb and a lot of the press this morning Bob in France was actually comparing him to the rise of his own teammate Mark Caendish Dean Cole a great sprinter this is the groupto there's Tyler Farah right there in the black and white in the blue helmet following Den Culp these sprinters will just try to get the finish line today >> well a little bit of a calm before the storm and the storm will be the climb up to Leger as with the Europe car still sitting on the front end of the main field. He'll take another short [music] break. Saturday, the Isizod Indie Car Series continues on versus with [music] the Firestone Twin 275s. When the Texas sun goes down, the lights come up for back-to-back shootouts. For the first time in the eyes Indie Car Series, [music] two champions will be crowned in one night. Saturday 8:00 p.m. Eastern time only on Versus. Well, this man is striving to survive and his name is Jason McCartney. Born in Honolulu, rides for the American team Radio Shack, but the times are absolutely crumbling. He had at one stage 12 and a half minutes over the front of the main field. But the main field now is in an angry mood as they head towards Tennis and start the climb up towards the finishing town and the ski resort of Leger. Europa car in the green jerseys with the black shorts doing the tempo now presumably setting up for a stage win for Thomas Focler the champion of France that's given Sky a chance to sit back a little bit and conserve their strength for the finish of today's stage and try to keep Bradley Wiggins in the jersey so things working out perfectly so far for the man from England in the yellow jersey after a great time trial Bradley Wiggins yeah the last British rider to win the Dofaneire Liber you'd have to go to back back to Robert Miller back in 1990 and before that it was Brian Robinson in 1962. But Wiggins is a completely different kind of rider. Wiggins a man who's got a brilliant pedigree on the track. Three Olympic gold medals in his career, a world champion in many disciplines of the the track side of the sport. Sorry about the little bit of picture break up, but we are getting deeper and deeper into the mountains. You can see the turquoise jerseys now moving forward. That is team Astana. They're looking after the interests of their man Alexander Vinurov. Just over on the left hand side, Christian Kane in that white jersey looking to see if he can be of assistance to Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins just popping through there in the yellow jersey. >> Sky bringing an incredibly powerful squad to the Dofina. You know, they're serious about trying to win this with Fletcher, Garren, Boh Hogan, Christian Kinesise, and of course, Garren Thomas riding very well throughout the week's proceedings. Well, the question is for this man, has he got anything left in the tank here this afternoon at 13 kilometers to go? That's about 7 mi of racing. Still 2 minutes and 15 seconds. If they keep the pressure on behind Bob, I think they'll wipe away that 2 and 1/4 minute advantage. But this man, he's been in a situation like this before, stage 14 of the Welter Espña a couple of years ago, and he rode out of the pack because he still had the energy in the back of his pack. 2 minutes and 14 seconds. He's lost a lot of time in the last few kilometers. One time once when the pelaton starts their acceleration towards the the the bottom of the climb and very technical part of the course is because of the battle for position. Every climber wants to start the last climb in perfect position. So you have the whole pelaton five or six teams battling out and that just makes the pace go up and the inertia of the pelaton makes it almost impossible to survive off the front by your spouse by yourself especially like Jason's been doing throughout today's stage. I'm just looking, Bob, as we go along this valley road. It's always been a bit scary for me. I was never a very good climber. When you start to get the mountains coming around you, gives you that claustrophobic effect. >> Most definitely. Look over the horizon just in front of you. You see nothing but peaks in front of you. You know the suffering is not going to be too far uh from where you're at at on the road. Liquigas now on the front of the pelaton. Mimi Ivon Basel feeling a little bit better. Had a very tough DNA so far. Well, Liquid Gas Cannondale a very strong squad using the criterium dudion to finetune possibly the legs of Ivan Basso. He feels that it's still in time and he's still on site for a good ride in the tour to France this year, which is why he's come here. He's sitting there in third place in the dark glasses. He will know this climb. It's a climb that's been used in the tour to France on a number of previous occasions. The occasion I was thinking about, Bob, was when Potra Ugram gave a real whacking to Miguel Indrain in a time trial over this almost same course. Falls flat here. This is going to hurt Jason McCartney. And there's the big mountain surrounding him. Leger is a tough little climb to the finish. It's false flat. Most of the time the average is only 5% but it does kick up. And when you've been out in the front for so long as Jason McCartney has done, these are some agonizing miles just to finish off the stage. Well, he keeps getting out of the saddle. The reason for that is just trying to stretch the back a fraction. He's been in a big gear for an awful long time here this afternoon and he knows right now he's got to find something special if he wants to survive for just 11.7 more kilometers. That's 6 and 1/2 miles. We'll take a short break and see how he's handling [music] it. Looking down on the main field, they're now coming into the outskirts of the small town of Tanz. And that's where they will take a lefthand turn. And that's where this climb will begin in earnest. And it starts to get very grippy. A very dramatic climb as well, right up through the rocks. We may well have a bit of difficulty getting the helicopter in there this afternoon, Bob, because if you can cast your mind back, it's a twisty and turny road, isn't it? It is very twisty and turny. And there's steep precipitous uh cliffs on either side of the riders as they make their way up to the finishing line in Leger. Right in the middle of the screen there now to the left a little bit in the yellow jersey just a few riders back is our race leader Bradley Wiggins. So far a very spirited events of that jersey. He hasn't been put under too much pressure at all. But Jason McCartney, this man from the United States alone in the front trying to get what would be an incredibly glorious stage win. Well, he's no stranger to stage victories in the in the past, but here, Bob, I think the way this is starting to tumble, this is the left hand turn now onto the start proper. And almost immediately, the gradient kicks here. It's about 5% gradient. Once we get to the corners and the the very twisty left and right hand bends further up, then the gradient starts to kick in even more. Six miles to go. About a 10k, if you can uh put that in foot racing terms. Jason McCartney now has to start his race for a stage win. 124. Jason McCartney looking to looking like to me struggling a little bit right now. You can see that his tempo. If we go back to the pelaton when we have a chance to see the group, it will be dramatically different. >> Well, you have to say a pelon of riders, the main field, the main pack of racers, they have no mercy at all, do they? This man deserves the victory here this afternoon. and he broke away at 95 km into the race. But a lot of riders in this group we're looking at too, they want to make a point today because today is the first of three very big mountain days. I don't think I've ever seen a criterium dofina before where there have been three mountain stages like this packed closely together and each one finishing at the top of a mountain. The very tough parkours for the final three days of racing summit of the climb 10.7 km there for the pelaton. Quite a bit different tempo being put in here by the front group. Here's the leaders. Michel, the Swiss rider. He will be leading out Cadell Evans. Cadell Evans starts the day 1 minute and 11 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins. If Wiggins suffers this on this last climb and loses more than a minute 11, Cadell Evans will inherit the J the jersey, the leader jersey, assuming he can stay with the race leaders. Oh, this is not looking good because when you see the yellow neutral service car being taken out of the gap, the red car of the referee being taken out of the gap, you know that the gap is going to come down very quickly indeed. But there'll be a gap at the back end of the main field too because one or two riders here getting shelled off. Big Johan Van Summer in there. 118 winner this year of the Parubet Classic. We're giving number six a gap of a minute and 10 seconds. But Bob, he's got to try and find some some rhythm to try and survive. Well, when he's looking over his shoulder constantly to see where the Pelaton is, you know that uh his days in the lead are probably numbered. Jason McCartney just struggling now trying to get closer to the finish line. And there's the Pelaton breathing hard down his neck. >> Well, there's a little move coming here now. This looks like the face of Tony Martin coming off the front now. What a move by Tony Martin. >> Tony Martin with a big acceleration now. A long ways from the finish line being chased by a liquid gas rider and one of the Yopar men. Let's see if this draws a reaction from the field. >> Well, a nice move by Tony Martin. He's a long way down in the overall standings, Bob. He's lost himself 15 minutes, but he's looking for his form in the doofine this year. Leonardo Duk, the leader of the King of the Mountains classification. He's got a lot of points out on the course today to extend his lead in that race. Something that I think he's made a destiny for himself on this year's Doflane. >> Duk more regarded as a sprinter rather than a climber. He does have the King of the Mountain jersey, which at this point in the Dofane is quite amazing. >> No, but he is a very rapid climber. Now, this is a good move. No stranger either to stage victories in races like the Tour of Switzerland or in the Dofane in the past. And Tony Martin has thrown caution to the wind here. Now, this is probably what we need to to to spice up the front end of the Pelaton. >> Tony Martin, a big acceleration there, striking out for a stage win. He's already won the time trial. HTC High Road, not a GC contender so far in this year's Dofine. And Tony Martin continuing to look for stage wins. They also have two from John Denulp. So, it's been a great Dofina for HTC High Road so far. Well, McCartney's looking over his shoulder there, Bob. I think he's trying to recover just a slight amount if he can to try and get back onto the train cuz he'll know how solid Tony Martin is and he'll see that as a big engine to go with. >> Oh, most definitely. Just seems to be catching his breath for a moment. Robert Hasting, on the other hand, continuing to struggle. That was number 81 in the orange jersey of Ravel Bank. Let's see if Tony Martin can stay with his pursuers when they catch him. Well, that's what he'll want to do. Just out of interest, a couple of big sprinters abandoned this morning. The HiO brothers both decided the better part of Valor was to get themselves out of this race. McCartney's gone. >> McCartney still looking back perhaps checking on the position of Yanni Brachovich. Try to get back into the front and do some work for Yanni if he needs it later on in the stage. >> Well, just trying to ride across the gap here now. Now, this could be a little move here to try and set something up for their man Alexander Vinorov. So, now we have a new leader at 9 km to go. It's Tony Martin on the front end of the main field with Peski and Pierre Roland. [music] We'll take another short break. Straa.com is a social training website where you can follow [music] the pros, compete against local cyclists, and track your own performance. Grab your GPS device [music] and get started at straa.com/ver. Straa, built for [music] cyclists. Well, the race changing a fraction at the front end of the main field because as we look here, we can see the junction being made. That's Juan Manuel Gerate coming across the gap to join up with Tony Martin. Bob, this is a little bit of action here as we can see it moving up there as well. Perrick Fedrigo, the rider in the white jersey. But here's a move coming from Leopard Trek. >> Good move from Leopard Trek. Now, right when the juncture was made, it was Garate doing the tempo to catch Tony Martin's breakaway. And then I believe that's Thomas Roarrier Reagger from Leo Partre. We'll try to get a number on him and but this is a good attack. Just a little bit of hesitation behind and sometimes that's all it takes to win a stage. Sometimes that's all you need as you look at 7.1 kilometers to go to the summit of this climb. But for the moment there's been no action at all to try and challenge the overall lead of Bradley Wiggins. And I wonder Bob if these guys might not attack each other today and wait for the accumulation of fatigue to build up over the next couple of days. >> Olivier Zag is the at the back. This it looks to me this is air mau of team BMC and this is what can happen if you're not paying attention. It looks as if his chain might have dropped off there but he's got himself back up. It's Olivier Zog who's the rider off the front for team Leopard Trek and again the moves are coming thick and fast on the front of the main field. You might just notice that white jersey. That's the British national champion. Amazing to think that her Thomas Bob is sixth overall and he's having to do the work of a domestic. >> Sky has brought a very powerful team. Four men in the top 20 to start today's stage and Garren Thomas no hesitation at all to do the big tempo for his team leader Bradley Wiggins. Well, David Lopez was a rider trying to jump off the front. Now, this is a great move by Olivier Zog. What a great two weeks of racing we're going to have here because not only are we looking at the criterium dof here every day, but next week we'll have the tour of Switzerland every day and there there are some real good races going. Men like Andy Schle trying to fine-tune his form, but Olivia Zog is proving to be a very worthwhile climber. Just about three and a half miles before the stage ends. He's shown a very hard acceleration to the riders that brought him across to the Tony Martin break. If it flattens out a little bit and he has a good day, he could stay away, but we'll see when the attacks come from the big stars. I have a feeling that Sky riding so powerfully has really discouraged the attacks of any of Bradley Wigan's rivals for the finish of at least today's stage. Well, this is the damage that's being done at the back here. You might just notice Markel. It is our team Radio Shack wearing number four. A little bit further back. Himar Zubelia. He's a man who's finished well up in the tour to France in the past. But we go back to the front end of the race. Bob Olivier Zog has been around for a long time. Turned professional back in 2004. He's never actually won a professional bike race in his career, but he has finished in the top 20 in races like the Vela Espña and in the Jirro. >> 6 km to go, just over 3 miles just over his shoulder. You can see Tony Martin now reacelerating and trying to get back into the lead of the race. Very aggressive rider riding from Tony Martin. Kind of had a rough start to the Dofina, but now he's finding his legs. >> Now, tactically now, Bob, a lot of these riders are already a long way down in the overall standings. What do you think that Team Sky should be doing at a time like this? Should they be chasing these moves or just staying calm? >> I think they're doing the perfect ride so far. Two men in front of Bradley Wiggins there in the Pelaton in the yellow jersey just doing a very steady tough tempo. They will keep a close eye on the men that do attack and if anybody is dangerous, they will increase their tempo. But so far, they have things well in hand and only a small 20 second, just under 20 second gap to our leader. That's a hard thing to do though, isn't it Bob? When you're in a situation like this, you've got the race leader overall, Bradley Wiggins, and you you can get nervous when you see these attacks coming off and leaping off the front one at a time. And and that's the time when sometimes a young team might make mistakes. >> Yes, that's when you need a rider like Shawn Yates in the in the car. Sean Yates, the manager of Team Sky. Just telling the riders, stay calm, boys. There's nothing dangerous going on so far. Bike racing is a sport where you absolutely have to save all the energy you can until the critical moment. >> Well, this is Karen Thomas. He's done the work at the front for his teammates. He did a lot of pacemaking. Probably pushed himself a fraction into the red zone. Now, Bob, all he can do is hope to survive. >> Radio Shack on the attack. That looked like it might be Sergio Palinino, stage winner at last year's tour to France, going out for a big attack here now. No panic, however. Team Sky so far riding perfectly. They bring such a powerful squad. If Harry Thomas has done so many kilometers of of tempo, he can be excused for dropping off. But then you need other teammates to come forward and also have a strong day of riding. >> Well, also not too far away from Bradley Wiggins was Edwell Bzenhagen as we rejoin the leader here. He's opened up a good smart gap there. 21 seconds over a chasing group of now four riders starting to get themselves together with 5 kilometers to go. This is a very fast climb. And Bob, we're setting ourselves up for three magnificent days of racing here. >> Well, these three stages will tell the difference between who has good form and who still needs to do some work before the tour to France. Bradley Wiggins having a great time trial and a pretty solid gap on Cadel Evans as well as everybody else. Yanni Brachovich in third to start the day inside of 5 km now for Olivier Zal. That's a great ride for the Leopart Trek man. Well, I thought I noticed another HTC jersey there and I wonder if Tony Martins had another little dig to try and get himself off the front end of this main field because he knows today he's got a very good chance. They won't chase him down completely because he's so far down in the overall standings. But team Kushia as well, the the Russian team on the front end, they're thinking about them and Wim Rodriguez. >> Wim Rodriguez would dearly love a stage. When he did the Jurro, he came into the Dane a little bit fatigued, but now he's starting to find good form. And Katusha has done a tremendous amount of work to keep Jason McCartney close enough to be caught. And so now it's the job of of Rodriguez to go ahead and try to do a stage win. This is a type of climb that he could do well on if he has a good day. Well, that little uh sorty off the front there with Sergio Palino being pulled back into the fold and now Kusha turning themselves inside out now as they try to join forces with Team Sky to make sure that they can pull their little climber up towards the front end of the Pelaton. And that the other Kusha jersey you can just see there in about fifth or sixth position. Well, that in fact is Yokohim Rodriguez. So, this is the the second group of chasers coming out of the front here. Now, this is a very good move. There's Tony Martin. He's been joined by two riders now from team Europe car and those two riders have got up with him. It looked like one of them was Kristoff Kern. Now he's a rider from this part of the world. Looks like that's David Lopez has got himself onto the back of the group as well. Kristoff Kern having a good doofy name in the top 20 overall to start the stage. Looking to move up a little bit. David Lopez also from the movie star team looking a little bit dangerous but you have to go a long ways up before you could find our race leader Olivia Zag from Leopard Trek having a great stage just before the finish. Well Olivier Zog is looking at trying to get himself his first ever stage victory as [music] a professional bike rider. We'll take a very short break and see if he still holds on to his slip lead. Welcome back. Well, Olivier Zog has just been absorbed by a chase group now of about four riders led there by Christoph Kern, Pierre Ola, and Tony Martin. But the main field now starting to react as well with attacks coming thick and fast from team Coffeides in the red and white jersey. This is David Monuche on the front just ahead of Thomas Vocler. A number of attacks came from his teammate Ram Terramite who in fact is an extremely good climber. But now Bob, this climb is starting to really kick. This is the time when Bradley Wiggins has to be very attentive. Not a lot of teammates left. That's going to be worrying. But Bradley Wiggins seems to be up to the task so far. Wine Rodriguez there, the Kushia man from Spain, 19th to start the stage. And Jurgen Vandenbrook is the Omega rider. But Bradley Wiggins handling all of these accelerations without too much trouble so far. Now Wiggins looks to be a little bit in trouble. Digging down, getting a little bit closer to the stem and digging deep to get these accelerations under control. But he's got a shadow. His shadow is man from Astana. And that is Alexander Vinurov moving up into fourth place. Thomas Vogler now up into fifth place. Not very many riders missing the the split for the moment, but this move now coming at the front end of the race. And Europ Car are obviously trying to set something up themselves. But look at the acceleration from the main field. Tony Martins back in the fold. >> Did not see Brachovich or Cadel Evans in that acceleration by Bradley Wiggins. They are a little bit gapped off the back. So Brachovich now is going to have to do his best to try to close down this very small gap to our race leader in the yellow jersey, Bradley Wiggins. >> Well, this really is having a serious effect on the front end of the main field at 2.4 kilometers to go. And now the move by Venou. Alexander Vinoroffer digging deep now, seeing whether or not he can slip the front end of the pelaton. >> Thomas Vulkler looking very strong, handling all of those little attacks. He has a teammate up the road now, so he can play a defensive role and he's in a great place to get a stage win. >> Well, I thought I had missed Cadell Evans, but that must be Cadel Evans in the black and red jersey there in about eighth position. They're chasing after this rider here. Now, this rider from the This is Dan Martin. Well, that's amazing. Dan Martin now coming out of the gap behind him. Chris Anker Sorenson, Jurgen Vandenbrook. Caution is coming out of this bike race now at 2.1 kilometers to go to the finish. That's 1.2 miles. >> Well, on this part of the stage number one is just about the time that Jurgen Vandenbrook made his big attack to get a great stage win and pull himself into the favorite position. He's struggled since then, but Jurgen Vandrook now looking very good on this final climb to the finish. >> Well, the attacks are coming again. That's David Monuche in the red jersey. Dan Martin has gone again, Bob. And I have to say what it's probably time to do here to the team management is say guys I want to go to the tour to France this year. I want to prove to you that I am a great climber and they probably be trying to jump out of the back. Tony Martin has stopped in the road there. Kablammo. Tony Martin glued to the pavement. He had a very aggressive climb so far but he found it two kilometers too long. Just about one mile to the finish for our stage leader. Well, Europe car have put in a storming attack there as Danny Danny Martin there in second position. Thomas Vogler won't do anything at all. David Monuchier is there. I think this is Kristoff Ken who's got himself up the front end of the main field. They're going to have to work together if they want to pull him back. And Alexander Vinurov knows you cannot wait when you get so close to the finish. Thomas Vogler now has a teammate just ahead. 7 seconds in front. Vocar looking up the road. He won't do a lot of work. Vin Kurov making a big acceleration now. But Veno doesn't want to drag Thomas Vogler close to the finish line. 6 seconds of very tenuous gap for Kristoff Karen of Europa. But brilliant riding now by that small French team. Well, they're certainly looking for the victory here this afternoon if they can. And there you can see another move that looks like Chrisarin Sorenson going off the front immediately covered there by Thomas Vogler. >> Thomas Vogler doing a great ride here to counter all those attacks. Veno Kurov went. He went right on the wheel. Chris Hanker Sorenson. Now that's giving his teammate a brilliant chance to win this stage. >> Well, he's made the move and there were two riders from this team in the breakaway. Pierre Rolon and Christopher Kern. Then all of a sudden they've got swept up and one of them has survived. Chris Ananka Sorenson now he's pulling himself inside out to try and get across the gap here. But not too far away also Jurgen Vanderbrook. I think this is in the bag here. Bob, great riding here by Europa. He has a great ally just closing down those attacks behind him. Let's see if Kristoff current can survive. He is really struggling now. Pretty steep last kilometer. Also, Chris Anker Sorenson is the chaser. But this man's teammate Vocler is on the wheel trying to counter those moves. Well, he certainly is trying to counter all of the moves. And that's a great job of tactical work being done there by Thomas Vogler. It's not that big a gap. I make it about 14 seconds as we start to get to the real grippy part of this course now. Out of the saddle, turning himself inside out. 500 m to go and he's still got that advantage and he must find something special from somewhere. Bob, you got to dig deep right now. The legs are screaming, "Please stop this. Why are we doing this?" But the mind has to remind him the glory is just around the next couple of corners for the man in the lead, Kristoff Karen. >> Well, that's Chris Anchor Sorenson going off the front there for Sax Bank. He won't give up either. He knows you've still got a chance as long as you keep the pressure in those legs. >> Kristoff current just a few hundred meters now. The effort you can see written all over his face. Digging deep now closing into the finishing straightaway. Great ride by the team. Europa car. This will be a great stage win. Well, it's going to be a victory over a team here. But the man who will cross the line in first place is Kristoff Kern. Going to look over his shoulder one final time to make sure he's got this victory in the bag. And there it is. Hands in the air. Two arms are lost in a victory salute. Victory for him and for Uro Car. While Chris Ancher Soros, he just holds on for second place as he comes up to the line. The French national champion Thomas Vogler. You can see just exactly how happy he is with that victory. >> Thomas Pocer celebrating his teammates's win in third position on the road, winning that little field sprint in front of the Pelaton. >> Well, looking down here, I want to see if we've got some riders who've missed out. There's Ram Ter. He's coming across the line there in that group. He was a man who was very aggressive early on. The gap starting to appear. No major challenge, Bob, coming at all to Bradley Wiggins this afternoon and I think it'll come tomorrow and the next day. and his team manager Sha Yates as he said very likely that's going to happen on the final climb of the event. Latusia >> handy finish there by the American national road champion Matthew Buchet from the radio shack squad just coming across the line ahead of some very big names in the sport of cycling. Great defense of the jersey by team sky and Bradley Wiggins. Team Europa pulls a joker out of their deck. Vocar did a lot of the teamwork but this man Kristoff Kern was able to get the stage victory. Great riding by the squad. Well, Thomas Vogler coming up there. He gets third place, but he looks as happy as if he'd won the stage himself. >> Thomas Vogler for his teammate. This man Kristoff Karen winning the stage. Great riding by Europa Car. They came here ready to race. That'll give him great morale coming into the Tour to France. >> Well, no change at all in the overall standings for Bradley Wiggins. He should still run out to a minute and 11 seconds overall ahead of Cadel Evans at the end of the day. No serious challenges either as we start to go deeper and deeper into the Alps because tomorrow and the next day we're facing up to some very difficult stages, even more difficult than today's. So, as Kristoff Ker celebrates his victory, a very well- earned victory, I have to say. We'll take a very short break, come back with the podiums [music] and an interview with the overall leader. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on versus the superior lightbeer. Perfectly balanced for the ultralight and brought to you by [music] Physique. Check out Physique's new high performance R1 and R3 road shoes at physique.com. Looking down over the Alps with these roads looking like pieces of discarded [music] spaghetti. Lger has hosted the finish of a very good stage today with Kristoff Kern getting himself a welltimed, well-earned victory for team Europe car. Well, Kristoff Kern getting himself the victory there. 7 seconds ahead of [music] Chris Ancher Sorenson, Thomas Voca in third place, Yokim Rodriguez in fourth, and Alexander Vinurov [music] in fifth. But the sixth place finish by Bradley Wiggins means that there'll be no real change at the top of the overall classification. And Jurgen Vanderbrook inside of the top 10 means he'll be right up there as well. Well, the Michelob Ultra ride of the day has to go to one man, the man who took the race by the horns. And that of course, Bob, is Kristoff Karna. Kristoff Karens turning himself inside out going through pure torture but getting the glory of a stage win. He was helped very admly there by Thomas Vogler and this is a great [music] team effort but an incredible solo to the finish line by Kristoff Garren. Perfect timing on his attack carried that all the way to the finish line and with that victory that earns him the Michelob Ultra ride of the day. >> Well, he hasn't won a race since 2004 when he won the stage six of the tour to Lavir. But Bob, I think he deserved that one. Well, this is a great way to end a seven-year drought for Kristoff Karen. And that also gives him great morale coming into the tour to France. They'll start that in just a couple of weeks time, but for the moment, Kristoff Karen on the top of the podium. So, Bradley Wiggins still leads the [music] race by a minute and 11 seconds ahead of Cadell Evans, Yanni Brachovich, and Alexander Vinurov. Looking a bit further down, moving up into sixth place, Jurgen Vandenbrook. Christoph Reblau into seventh. Ben Herman's the Belgian rider on Radio Shack is eighth and Constantine Cystoff moves up into the top 10. Our notables, Matthew Boucher all the way up to 22nd place. The American on the American Radio Shack squad continuing [music] to race well. Vaso Zriski Kynink, Jason McCartney 137th [music] overall. Well, Bradley Wiggins was expecting the attacks to come today. Well, they never really materialized on the slopes of the climb up to the ski resort here of Leger. I'm sure they will come tomorrow. So, one more day in the yellow. Couple of hard accelerations. Bradley Wiggins put in to counter the attacks by Alexander Vinukurov. Especially Veno starts in fourth, but Bradley Wiggins a very solid defense of the yellow jersey on today's stage by himself and his teammates. >> Just a point of notice, he looks pretty skinny there, Bob. And do you remember a couple of years ago he lost himself something like 7 kilos to getting him into the position of being a good climber. >> It's been a long transition from the track where you need a little bit of body mass for the inertia to being a climber. these big mountains. Absolutely as thin and lean as possible. And Bradley Wiggins is most certainly as skinny as I've ever seen him. >> So Bradley Wiggins getting himself another yellow jersey. Let's catch up with him behind the podium to see what he thinks about today's stage. >> The team was amazing. They did a fantastic job today in in marshalling the the right moves, making sure we didn't get any big groups go away. And eventually uh Jason McCartney went away and that was perfect. And uh just just looked tomorrow now and and and just give it everything tomorrow. And obviously I I believe if I do that I'll still be in yellow. But uh and then we'll look to Sunday. But obviously as I said to tomorrow is the main day. Sunday is slightly easier only a bit. Um but you know people are getting tired now. We've been racing for nearly a week. So uh you know I don't there's no superhumans out there at the moment. Those are the old days. >> Well Bob I got to say that's a very confident sounding Bradley Wiggins and having a dig at the old days and maybe finally we're talking about a clean cycling going forward. >> Yes. Very strong words from Bradley Wiggins. the overall race leader. Um he's referring of course to the days when a lot of curious happen stances out on the open road. I think he's a direct dig at Ricardo Rico, Stefan Schumacher, Bernard Cole, and the dark days of cycling. Hopefully those are behind us. Let's look. Let's hope we're looking forward to a very bright future with guys like Brad Wiggins. I'm sure we are. Well, anyway, [music] Epic Cycle presented by Michelob Ultra continues on versus tomorrow with two elite cycling events. It all starts at 5:00 [music] p.m. Eastern time with stage six of the Criterium Dud and immediately after that, stage one, the individual prologue of [music] the Toris Swiss. The epic cycle continues tomorrow beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern only on Versus. For a full [music] schedule, log on to our website at NBCports.com. You can also follow us on [music] Twitter at vssycling. And if you want to go down to Facebook, we've got the Versus Cycling web page also [music] where you'll find predictions from Bob and myself every day. Congratulations then to Kristoff Kern and to Bradley Wiggins [music] for holding on to his overall lead until tomorrow night and that double header of cycling events. On behalf of Bob Ro, I'm Paul show. Today we'll rock the foundations of most bike riders courage. The general opinion is that the cold avalar [music] is tougher than the famed aldue. This afternoon we'll find out. Yesterday the summit finish at top the ski resort of Leger was an orurve for the next two days of mountains. Yellow jersey wearer Bradley Wiggins was [music] tested but held his own to maintain the overall lead. Today the assault on the Alps continues with six mountain passes including the gut-wrenching climb to the top of the Kle Davalar. Today only [music] the strong will survive. Today the main course is served. Act two in the Alps of the Criterium Dop is next on Versus. [music] Heat. Heat. Over [music] the next two days, [music] the criterium to do will be a big showdown in the Alps. Hello everybody, welcome to Epic Cycle [music] presented by Michelob Ultra. I'm Paul showing alongside me is Bob Ro. Bob. Yesterday was kind of an orurve. Today is a big showdown. We are in the high mountains of the Alps above the tree line. This is a true test for the climbers. The finishing climb leard is absolutely grizzly to finish off the stage. Bradley Wigan so far has been talking a big game, but now he must deliver. Yes, he has to come out. He has to come out and play today and show that he is going to be a serious contender when we go through to the tour to France in July. He's looking slim. He's looking skinny. He's looking like a man who is prepared for the tour to France as he puts on the yellow jersey and is firmly on his shoulders with a 1 minute and 11sec advantage over the man next in line Cadel [music] Evans who today has to come out and play. Yanni Brachovich is still a threat in third place. Alexander [music] Vinurov, well, he's the real loose gun. A little bit further down, Jurgen Vanderbrook wants to confirm that he's got great form for the upcoming tour to France. And Ben [music] Herman's moving up into eighth place. Matthew Busher 22nd place having a great doofine so far. Ivon Basel showing signs of life. Zriski riding oil. Robert Hing having a very tough Dolphin. He's plummeted all the way down to 79th overall. Well, I tell you what, Bob, we're getting right into the very heart of the Alps. That's what it's all about. This final weekend of the Dofphane is going to be a tough day as the riders leave from Leger this morning. It's a nasty [music] ride all the way to the cold Aliva. The sharks teeth of this profile will bite everybody in this pelaton. Cat twos, cat fours, beyond category one, cat category one climb before the beyond category climb to the k alivar. This is a real specialty for the mountain climbers. Well, the categorization of the climbs means how severe they are. Four is easy, one is hard. HC or category is the most difficult that you can put together in a professional bike race. And the co davalar right down at the end, forget about it. 6 and 12 miles of climbing, 8 1/2%. Well, at 25 kilometers to go now, we're looking at this 8-man breakaway that formed after 84 kilometers of the stage this afternoon. And I tell you what, Bob, it's going to be a very difficult group to pull back, I think. >> Tough gap here. 207 long climb to the finish. Ago Martinez, he's the rider from Yuskatellusi. A very strong bike racer. When he's in the breakaway, they always have a solid chance to win. It's a little bit of a confusion now in the breakaway. I think a lot of tired legs this deep into the stage race. Big mountain climbs throughout the day's proceedings. So, a lot of men reluctant to come through and take their turn at the front and that makes a very tough breakaway situation. We've been over five mountains so far this afternoon. The last one was the big colder loner. We're dropping down into Alaval Lean before these riders start to go up to the Cole Dalivar. >> And this is just exactly what I'm talking about. Marco Finoto Phenetto the man in the white and green there having a strong discussion there with Suio Goautier the rider from Europa carar I don't want to pull through you pull through I'm going back to get some water I don't have to pull through the moment I've been doing work throughout the day why don't you go through if you want to pull go ahead no problem well it's nervous moments really Bob because this is the time when everybody starts to feel that are we going to survive or are we not going to survive the front end of the main field team sky in the black and blue jerseys on the front end of the main field I think that we're looking at A very solid Bradley Wiggins here. This could be confirmation that Bradley Wiggins is coming back to being in the position of a challenger for the tour to France. >> Well, absolutely brilliant defense of the leader yellow jersey by team sky. They've been able to marshall their forces here over the top of a very tough cusheron climb. They have seven men still there working for Bradley Wiggins. Christian Kenise, he's a great man to follow it when your team is on the front. Garrett Thomas is having a good day as usual. And Simon Garren has been doing a fantastic ride so far. for the last climb. Don't forget about Rioberto Uran, a great climber from Columbia. >> What's going on here? But there's there's there's half a dozen cows getting onto the field. Somebody's crashed into one of those massive big cows there. This is this is just at the back end of the main field. Unbelievable. >> Well, when a cow gets on the road and uh you see that Yuskatail rider is hurt badly by that. So, a a big crash here being caused by something you I I don't think I've ever seen this in my whole life, a cow being out on the raceourse. Well, that looks that looks to me as if the the rider from Uscatilli went down very hard there indeed, Bob. And uh we're just looking back here. This is a very dramatic crash. It happened at the massive cow got onto the field there and I've rarely seen that before. Looks like a rider went down from FDJ and there's a couple of riders also been involved in there from AG2R. Yuscatel man down hard looking like a broken collarbone right there. And the Pelaton absolutely steaming down the road. cattle out on the raceourse. Never seen that before. Never in my life. >> That's a huge cow, Bob. And I mean those guys, if they were involved in that accident, they went down extremely hard in I think the Oscarel rider was Mikel number 103. Went down very hard indeed. A couple of teammates alongside him. Well, that's crazy. >> That's unbelievable. I mean, you have dogs that that happens quite frequently, but never a cow out on the course. And here you can see some cattle just getting out on the course there and running along with the pelaton spooked by the big mass of riders coming down this very small country back lane. And you can see there's no fence right there and they're just following the leader and kapow. You got to understand you have to understand Bob that this stadium is not an enclosed stadium. The race is in the countryside. You cannot control every element and that's exactly what's happened there. I'm surprised there was no fence to keep those cows in. But sometimes the cows get spooked, maybe by the helicopter, maybe by the motorbikes and all of a sudden chaos on the road of the Dofun. As we take our descent down to the bottom and head down towards Alaval Lean [music] down these very dramatic corners. We'll take a very short break and when we come back, we won't be too far away [music] from the final climb of the day. This is the epic cycle presented by Nicolobra on versus the superior light beer. Perfectly balanced for the ultralife and brought to you [music] by Strava. Built for the avid cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver [music] straa.com/very. [music] [singing] [singing] [music] [singing] >> [music] [music] >> So, welcome back to the live action here as we look at the descent of the Kug Gron Kushiron. A first category climb the riders went over just a few moments ago. Fini was the first rider to go over there. We're looking at the front end of the main field, completely controlled by Team Sky. This is a team that is well drilled and you know the team manager extremely well. Sean Yates has said he can control this right the way up to the final climb of the criterium to do Latusia. Just now they're doing a great job. But Bob, this race is far from over. >> Oh, most certainly. Bradley Wiggins now it's his it will be his turn on the last climb to take over from the pacemaking of his teammates. He has to defend that yellow jersey. It's the type of climb where a rider like Yanni Brachovich, whatever attack he makes throughout the proceedings of the last climb, that will translate into an advantage gain. Bradley Wiggins does have a very comfortable margin over Cadel Evans, over a minute, a minute 11 seconds and a minute and 21 over Yanni Brachovich. So Bradley Wiggins, his team, however, so far has done an exceptional defense of the leaders yellow jersey. >> As we go past the banner there indicating 20 kilometers to go to the finish, that's 12 miles of racing. We look at the eight-man breakaway. Juan Manuel Garati is in here in the orange jersey of team Rabbank. Marco Finto from Liquid Gas. Agoy Martinez Uscatel Uskadi. Siril Goautier Urupar in the green jersey. Trophyov from team Kusha. Sandy Casar from Frances Dejour. He's just coming to the front as we look. Amodore from Moby Star. And Kevin Srees is the rider in here from Quickstep. It's a solid breakaway Bob. Talking about this climb, we're looking at about 11 1/2 kilometers, 8 1/2% that's that's Aldz. >> That is very similar in gradient and length to Alpu and very steep sections also upwards of 12% on this final climb of the day. Costa Rican rider in the breakaway. Andre Amador, he's the movie star man in the break. We'll have to see how he can fare on the final climb. Juan Manuel Gerate winning a huge stage of the tour to France up Mount Vontu in a similar situation getting in all day breakaway and then being able to hold off none other than Tony Martin for a great stage win by Gerate. Similar circumstance on today's stage. Well, these are great racing roads here that we're looking at now as the riders start to set themselves up for this last climb of the day, the Koh Dava. It's a very long climb, a climb of around about 11 12 kilometers, goes up to 1,400 m in altitude. That's around about 5,000 ft. It's a big climb. It's locked in, Bob. The breakaway at 2 minutes, but two minutes is nothing on a 10 km climb. >> Most certainly should not be any trouble at all for some of the big superstar climbers to get up to this breakaway. You never know. This course has been so technical, so mountainous, so twisty and turny that a group of eight is not at a huge disadvantage aerodynamically than the riders following the inertia of the big pelon. Sandy Casar, the man from the FDJ squad right there in the white and blue. Perhaps the most dangerous man in the breakaway, starting the stage at just over 5 minutes behind race leader Bradley Wiggins. But they have never given this breakaway more than a couple of minutes. I think maybe I would have been a little bit more conservative. Get them, let him get three or four minutes and then hope that they come back before the final ascension to the finish line. >> Well, Senic Casar, you mentioned that in the white jersey FDJ, he's a very good bike rider. This year in the early part of the season he won Parry Camaret. He's one of those riders Bob who doesn't win a lot of races. He's won 13 races throughout his career but he always picks the big occasion to do well. Well he is got a great couple of stage wins in the tour to France. Sandy Casar the star of the FDJ squad longtime campaigner now in the French Pelaton and just starting to come on form. It's funny the French riders pretty quiet during the springtime in the last few years but then at the Tour Defons they're always very competitive. Bit of chaos at the back end of the main field here. As you see, we are starting to really pick up the race. Ariad Laos, the back end of the bike race. Looking there at Vladimir Carpets going backwards. They're all trying to get themselves to the front end of the main field before we start this final climb of the day. That's why there's so much chaos at the back. Well, the split here presumably because of the cattle on the course a few kilometers before. Big crash there closing down the road. That's Dave Zabriski trying to get back into the main field. And that is incredibly bad luck. If you see a cow on the road and some riders come down and you have to stop and they're doing the final charge before the last climb, then that's a very long day in the saddle. Tough mountains made even more difficult by something I've never seen before in my life. Cattle on the race course in today's sport. >> Well, as we look at these riders who are off the back of the main field, the main field starting to get themselves a little bit more organized before the attack of the final ascent of the day. We'll take a short break. When we come back, there'll be some more climbing action. I'm Robbie Mchuan of team Radio Shack and I chose Sam. Tonight, the Eyes on Indie Car Series [music] continues on versus with the Firestone Twin 275s. When the Texas [music] sun goes down, the lights come up for the back-to-back shootouts. For the first time in the Eyes on Indie Car Series, two champions will be crowned in one night tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time, only on Versus. Well, looking down on the small town here where the race is about to start, this is the town of Alavar, which lines itself up to the Cole Dalivar. We take the corner here and start 11.2 kilometers to the top of this big mountain. A mountain which many of the riders here who've actually raced it beforehand feel it's as difficult as the Aldu Edward Bosen Haren on the front end of the main field. Great. I mean Bob a few moments ago we were looking at this breakaway with a twominute advantage. All of a sudden it's nothing. Just in the last few kilometers last couple of miles the Pelaton has been able to hunt down the breakaway. 9 seconds is the gap. Bradley Wiggins accelerating across to the wheel of his teammate Edvald Bohas and Hogan without any trouble at all. Wiggins looking fantastic so far in today's stage. Well, you were talking yesterday, Bob, a little bit about the the difference between Bradley Wiggins from 3, four years ago. Bradley Wiggins an incredible individual pursutor, but he decided in his mind he decided he wanted to become a rider for the tour to France and he slimmed down by about 7 kilos. That's an incredible change in a professional athletes career. Well, power to weight ratio critical for the climbs and Bradley Wiggins realizing he needed to lose a few kilos to be competitive in the high mountains. Maybe he lost a little bit of his track speed, but as far as his climbing ability, he has ascended to the heights of the sport. Well, you can see the damage that's being done. And at the front end of the main field, once again, orange jerseys trying to appear. I noticed that Robert Hess, he's not done anything at all during this crit, Bob, but he was actually fairly ominous at the front end of the main field in the early part of the race. Maybe he's looking to do something for the men of Orange. >> Well, Hayesync had a decent time trial, but a very disappointing couple of days in the mountains so far for Robert Hasting, the leader of the Dutch squad rabble bank, and he needs to ride a lot better than that to have a chance for the team to defend his ability to win the tour to France a little bit later in the summer. So, we'll see if Robert Hyn can do a good climb on today's stage. So far, he's been pretty disappointing in the mountains. >> Well, this is serial Goautier on the front for Urup Khan. And I was just talking to Jean Bernardo who I turned professional with back in 1978. He's the team manager of Urokar and he said to me, he said he's got Leon Jeon which the French means he's got the ants in his legs. He's itching to get out on the attack on a day like this. So Gate, you can recognize him there. The Spanish rider on Rabber Bank. He's got the uh the the golden red bands on his sleeves there indicating a former national champion. Well, Dave Zabriski having a hard time. He's in one of the the groups. He was actually caught out, Bob, by that crash with which involved those huge cows. Cows on the road. Anything can happen. Our stadium is the open roads out in the world. France, one of the best countries in the world to race bicycles. Let's be honest. This is the damage being done by the acceleration of the Estana team and the very very steep slopes of the Ka Alivard. It's going to be a very tough finale of today's stage. You talk about boom boom and out goes the lights. This is damage being done at the back end of the main field. I've just seen Merkel Irizar go backwards. I've just seen Jason McCartney. I've just seen Sergio Powino of Radio Shack bang straight out of the back. 10 kilometers to go now. The damage is now on and it's all still being done because of the effort being put in by team Sky and of course team Aana. Bohassen Hogan on the front still going and Bradley Wiggins looking very smooth there. Fifth wheel just behind Cadel Evans in the black and red. Yanni Brachovich just a few riders down. Maybe Yanni Brachovich having a little bit of a hard time today so far. Edvald Bohas and Hogan for Team Sky setting a very tough tempo and gaps already starting to open up right there. Seven or eight riders back. This is going to be a brilliant finale. It is. And just by the way, if you remember yesterday, there was a very nasty crash involving Nicholas Roach. Well, he didn't start this morning. He went to hospital after the race and he was cut up pretty badly. So, he decided with the team management that he'd better take a step back and try and recover before he gets to the tour to France. But we are talking damage here in the criterium dofina. There's lots of riders going backwards. Bradley Wiggins I have to say bowl looking very calm and collected. He's got his teammate Bzenhogen on the front and David Monuche boom straight out of the back here. Rem also number 51. Aggressive yesterday not able to stick the pace this afternoon. Very tough final climb. Could be Tony Martin coming back. Also tried to do a little bit of something on the start of yesterday's final climb. Great time trial, but still continuing to struggle in the mountains. This is not his best terrain to apply his trade and he's trying to get a little bit better at climbing so he can have a chance at the overall standings in the tour to France. 123 riders left at the front end of the criterium dofina and just getting himself onto the back. Thomas Vocler, I have to tell you Bob, Thomas Vocar this year, I think it's it's coming of age because he is riding a storming season. Eight victories so far this year and he's always there and thereabouts. Well, Europa car had a great ride on yesterday's stage and Thomas Vocler was instrumental in that victor victory by Kristoff Karum, his teammate, counting all the attacks as they came behind and still having some good legs on today's stage. Look at Bradley Wingers though in the yellow jersey. Looking very smooth so far. Well, looking very smooth. We're now looking at a group of elite riders at the front end of the Criterium Dofun. It's going to be a real humdinger as we start to get to the top of this climb. We'll take a very short break and [music] see when or where the attacks are really going to start. [music] >> [music] [music] >> Looking here into the eyes of Alexander Vinorov concentrating on the job at hand. In front of him Yokim Rodriguez. In front of him the yellow jersey of Bradley Wiggins. Looking very cool and calm and collected. This is now becoming the heads of state of the criterium dofune this afternoon. Number 91 on the left hand side, Ivan Basso 101 in the orange jersey. Uscatus, Sammy Sanchez. The damage is being done by a single rider from team sky and that's Edward Bosen Hogan. What a great job Eddie Boss and Hogan there. The Norwegian rider on the sky team doing incredible turn of work here on the front. Relentless climb to the finish line. There hasn't been one flat section. It's been straight up since the get-go of this climb. Ivon Baso big comeback now. Started the doofine out of shape. He is recovering from a crash. He had 15 stitches from a training camp on Mount Etna down in Sicily. Starting to feel better now. He was able to match the accelerations on yesterday's stage. That was a much easier climb, however, than to finish off today's stage. And Baso, good to see him in the front group. Well, Thomas Vocler 13th overall, looking for 3 minutes and 23 seconds. I think Avan Basso Bob is riding himself into this race. He said he needed this race to get himself ready for the tour to France. I just think I saw a sky rider going backwards, but it wasn't Eddie Bosenhogen. This man today, the job that he's doing, what he's trying to do, he's trying to esphyxiate all the other riders to prevent anybody from attacking. They're all queuing up. I don't think I've ever seen Wiggins look quite so comfortable on a climb. >> Asphyxiating the the others is exactly what's been going on. And that was down to one man, Edaldo Bohassen Hogan, sky rider here, coming off the bat. That it might be Rioberto Uran, one of the Colombian riders on the sky team. He has done it. Most certainly is. He has done all the teamwork that he's capable of for Bradley Wiggins. Let's see if he can catch back onto the front group here and be an assist uh uh of assistance to Wiggins if Wiggins needs it. But Wiggins looking like he doesn't need too much help whatsoever so far. >> I have to I have to say, Bob, I' I've known Wiggins for a long time. I've seen him race on the track. I've seen him race in the individual pursuit. We saw him finish fourth overall in the Tour to France a couple of years ago. Look at the face of Cadel Evans here. This is hurting. Digging deep. Cadell Evans not looking as strong as he has so far. Robert Hayink having a much better day in the mountains. But Bradley Wiggins supreme so far following Eddie Bohassenhogen. Edward Bohassenhogen started his professional career with career with some great wins. He had a little bit of a lull but now he's starting to find that form again. A very classy rider. Bradley Wiggins a great talent in cycling and now he's making a long transition is to being a leader of a team. To have talent and get good result results is one thing, but to put your teammates on the front, insist that they do the work to defend the leader jersey, you have to be able to accept the responsibility, handle the pressure, and deliver the goods and these intense, very difficult, tough situations in our sport. Yeah, as you said, Bob Bzenhogen on the front there swinging off. He's done a big job of work. Amazing to think that he's only 24 years of age and now the attacks are starting to come. Bozen Hogan pulled off to the right hand side of the road and ooh, that hurts. He's gone. He is absolutely gone. This is what happens when you work throughout the day for your team leader. You give up any chance you might have. Robert Hastings was the first man to see Bhassen Hogan pull out and he pull off and he went straight on the attack. >> Bob, this is this is what dedication to your team is all about. You give everything to the very last drop of energy that you've got and then you've just got to survive. You got to get you've still got to get to the top of the mountain. You've still got to get inside of the time limit. But now what's happening is we look at Robert Hess going here. Bradley Wiggins is isolated. >> Bradley Wiggins a little bit isolated now. No teammates left. He's going to have to start to watch the other riders in the overall standings. One man he doesn't have to watch out for is the rider who won this race last year, Yanni Brachovich. Brachovich been dropped. So, he's going to really have to keep his eye on Cadel Evans. Well, Robert Kessich is not that much of a problem there. He's 79th in the overall standings looking for more than a quarter of an hour. But I'm surprised to see with those accelerations that Ian Basso is being caught out in the crossfire. Now it's up to Chris Anker Sorenson. Great for by him at the front end for Saxo Bank. But Robert Hess I think he's he's hidden his game a little bit during the doer. You know, he didn't want to use too much of his ammunition. He knows next big race he's going to is probably much more important. As we can again see this is the rider from the S So Sun team going backwards there and he was a rider who was well up in the standings, Jerome Copel. It's starting to hurt now. It's started to get just that little bit grippy. >> Kristoff Karen still riding well in the green jersey at the front. Yesterday's stage winner, chasing this man, Robert Hyn saving a little something for a big stage win. He's usually an overall contender, but nothing to write a home about so far in the Doofine. But this attack might get him to the finish line first. Bradley Wiggins doesn't have to worry too much about Robert Hastings. A long ways down in the overall standings. He does have to keep an eye, however, on Cadel Evans. Just at the bottom of your screen, that's Wen Rodriguez now from Ausha Kushia attacking. >> Followed straight away by Jurgen Vanderbrook, followed by Kristoff Kern. And there you can see Bradley Wiggins being very careful, Bob. He's looking to see which wheels he wants to follow. But this is a dangerous move when you see Yokim Rodriguez go off the front end of the main field. He's right up in the overall standings. Still a long ways to the finish. Five K just over 5 km, 6K. So 3 and 1 half miles to the finish. And there goes Vocler off the back. Chris Anker Sorson riding pretty well, but Cadel Evans now in trouble, losing the wheel of the rider in the lead in the yellow jersey. And that is Bradley Wiggins. Bradley Wiggins now has got to close this gap down to Veno Kurov. And look at Cadel Evans struggling now to keep the wheel of Bradley Wiggins. >> Venou is going now. There you can see the turquoise and yellow jersey. He can feel this is this is not an attack from this is not premeditated, Bob. This is the feeling, you know, all of a sudden you can look at a guy's face and say, "Hey, you are suffering, my son. I'm going for it." Veno Kurov on the attack now. Bradley Wings in the yellow jersey. I'll have to keep a close eye on Veno. Veno starting the stage fourth overall. Watch Bradley Wing to see how he handles these accelerations as the attacks are coming thick and fast from all of the men in the overall standings. Yokim Rodriguez, he's quite a way down in the overall standings as well. He's 15th at the start of the day, 3 minutes and 55 seconds down. Alexander Vinorov is looking for a minute and 56 seconds at the moment, Bob, at 5 kilometers to go. 3 m to the top of the climb. Bradley Wiggins doesn't need to worry too much, but he does need to do something. And the man in the [clears throat] red shorts and red jersey is Cadell Evans all over the machine, swinging it back and forth, struggling to stay on the wheel of Bradley Wiggins. Cadell Evans is the man most likely to take the yellow jersey away from Bradley Wiggins at the end of today's stage, finding himself in second place in the overall standings. But Brad Bradley Wiggins seems to be able to handle those accelerations quite well. >> Cadell Evans is now making the move. You might not have noticed it, but just a little little strip of red came out of the attack there, covered straight away by Jurgen Vanderbrook, Kristoff Kern, and now Wiggins has to respond to this. Vandenbrook now puts the hammer down. They are throwing everything they've got at Bradley Wiggins. And Bob, it's going to be like this for the next 48 hours because tomorrow is identical to this. >> Tomorrow will be very similar. So a prelude to tomorrow's epic stage to swear Jurgen Vandenbrook lost a lot of time in the time trial. Cadell Evans maybe uh a little bit of a pretend attack there trying to see how trying to see how Bradley Wiggins would respond. Wiggins responding without any trouble at all. And Cadel Evans struggling again. Now that's Robert Hayink on the wheel of Bradley Wiggins. And Bradley Wiggins very very well just metering out his effort just dosing it perfectly and closing the gaps down. Bradley Wiggins in an enviable situation right now. >> Well, Bradley Wiggins on the back foot at the moment. Got himself up against the ropes as he sees the attacks coming from Yokim Rodriguez and Alexander Vinorov. We're looking at three miles to go to the summit of this race. Wow, it's going to be good. Don't go too far away from your TV. Straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros, compete against local cyclists, and track your own performance. Grab your GPS [music] device and get started at straa.com/ver. Straa, built for cyclists. [music] Looking now just inside of 5 kilometers, 3 miles to go to the finish. And this is Jurgen Vandenbrook looking over his shoulder to see what sort of damage. I don't think anybody yet has ruffled the feathers of Bradley Wiggins. And what's happening is we are seeing a race of elimination. The cream is coming to the top. >> Absolutely. Bradley Wiggins looking very comfortable so far. Jurgen Vandenbrooks put in a couple of accelerations. Veno Kurov put in a big one, but now he's been dropped by Wen Rodriguez. Look at Bradley Wiggins. Very calm, cool, and collected. A little bit of the damage being done. JC Perro here from the AG2R squad just in front of Chris Anker Sorenson. Chris Ananker Sorson yesterday on the stage, but today struggling a little bit behind the big overall contenders. Walken Rodriguez has put in a racewinning move and we'll see if it's Bradley Wiggins interested in chasing him down. Well, Robert Kessa put the move in. He's now been caught and passed and the man leading this race is Yokim Rodriguez and here he is. This is the kind of finish that he likes. Bob, you weren't so keen on his performance in the doofino so far because you thought he'd be a little bit too tired from having participated in the Jirro ditalia, but here he's got that power that you get from a 3-week stage race. Well, he came into this hungry, a little bit disappointed in his Jirro performance. So, he thought he could get a stage win. Didn't have big aspirations for the overall standings, but he is he has been very conservative throughout the week's proceedings. Top 20 in the overall standings without doing too much. He had a very slow time trial, but now he's having a great day up this very tough time. The co Aliva, >> just looking at Bradley Wiggins there, Bob, this is this is confidence. He's riding there. He said, "Okay, I've used my team. Everybody's gone. Now I have to assume responsibility. He doesn't have to chase down Yokin Rodriguez cuz Rodriguez started the day four minutes behind him in the overall standings. He's quite comfortable to sit there and set his own tempo. That's a good move. >> That's a great move. he'll be maybe interested in bringing Ven Kurov back into the lead group and try to catch him because Ven Kurov starts to stage fourth overall and now because Yanni Brachovich is struggling uh way down the road. I think that Bradley Wiggins is looking at Ven Kurov perhaps moving into third. You don't want to w you do not want to let second and third place in overall get hardly any advantage. So we'll see if Bradley Wiggins in the last couple of miles of this stage close the gap down to Vina Kuraf who sits now second on the road. Yeah, boron. That means the chaser, the second chaser on the road. That is Alexander Vinorov. But he's about to get picked up by this group here because these are the top men now of the criterium dud. We're seeing Bradley Wiggins. Every time it slows down, he's got no fear at all, Bob, of going to the front. He's got confidence and this criterium dof is going to give him confidence to go forward in three weeks time to the tour to France. >> Most certainly a spirited defense of the leader jersey. Great to see Cadel Evans fighting back after clearly struggling in a big gear all over the machine. He put in a pretend attack there maybe to just uh intimidate his rivals a little bit. That did not work and now Cadel Evans in trouble but clawing his way back and hanging tough to maintain his second place overall position. Well, I don't believe this man. We called him the jack in the box yesterday and he's out on the attack once again. Kristoff Kern looking for the move here this afternoon. As you can see, Jorgen Vanderbrook says, "No, mate, you're not having this one. You're not having two in a row because I won a victory this afternoon. Let's not forget they're pulling themselves back now to Alexander Vinurov. What a gladiator. >> Total gladiator. It's kind of surprising to see Kristoff Karen being able to close the gap now to Alexander Vinurov. I think Bradley Wiggins continues to be interested in Ven Kurov. Vandenbrook and Karen a long ways down in the overall standings. Cadell Evans trying to maintain this tempo. 4 km just about 2 miles left in this bike race. Vino Kurov getting onto the wheel handily there. of Vandenbrook Kristoff Karen and continuing to his impressive riding in the mountains. >> Yeah, Jean Renee Bernardo was saying that this guy has prepared himself. He gave him plenty of confidence in the early part of the season. He actually had a very nasty knee injury which put him out of a number of races. But John Renee Bernardo, seasoned professional himself, waited to see whether or not he could come back to form for the criterium Dophren and I think he's given his team manager a definite nod. But this man we're looking at, Yokim Rodriguez, he won a stage in the Tour to France at the top of a mountain last year and he knows exactly how to really work hard. But Cadel Evans is looking a little bit disappointing. Very steep part of the course. This is where it kicks up to 12% gradient. Cadell Evans letting Daylight go between Bradley Wiggins. What you want to do is stay on the wheel. It's very tough to keep closing those gaps. This is a very select second group. Splitting up a little bit now, but everybody chasing Wen Rodriguez. Well, one man still out on his home, Yokim Rodriguez with a 43 second advantage over the Chasers. We'll take a very short break and see [music] whether this man in the yellow jersey, Bradley Wiggins, can hold on. Two kilometers to go, 1.2 miles of racing and still Yokim Rodriguez still at the front of this bike race. But Bob, the gap is starting to come down. I think these riders in the group here with Bradley Wiggins can see that the Brit is under pressure. >> The Brit is under pressure. Jurgen Vandenbrook stands the most to gain here starting the stage. 2 minutes and a little bit less than 30 seconds behind Bradley Wiggins. 1.2 Two miles left for Bradley Wiggins. He needs to hang tough here. Cadell Evans really struggling now getting swept up by some of the chasers behind. Cadell tried with everything he had to match the accelerations of Vandenbrook and Kristoff Karen to stay on the wheel of Bradley Wiggins putting in a figning of aggression there, but dropped in any case. Well, 2 kilometers to go now and Bradley Wiggins under a little bit of stress here. This is a testing ground, Bob, for all of these riders for the tour to France. I don't think that Cadell Evans, for example, Bob, he's going to be too happy with the way he's he's writing his exam papers today. >> No, this will be disappointing for Cadel Evans. Maybe tomorrow he feels a little bit better and can handle the accelerations on lot two swear for Bradley Wiggins. So, if he can defend the jersey here, that'll give him a tremendous amount of morale for the tour to France to come. While Keen Rodriguez now has made the acceleration, perhaps the race winning move. He'll see the one kite in a little bit. Bradley Wiggins yo-yoing. He's trying to handle the accelerations of Kristoff Karen. Every time Kristoff Karen goes to the front, it puts Wiggins under trouble. >> Well, Wiggins 121 wearing the yellow jersey. He's on the back foot once again this afternoon. He started the day with a little bit of buffer Bob over everybody else in this bike race. But if they keep hammering at him like they are doing today, tomorrow is going to be a real sort out. Cadell Evans now about to get caught by Chris Anker Sorenson and the other rider coming up from AG2R. That's Jean Kristoff Peru of the AG2R team. And now even Alexander Vinorov has said Wiggins I'm off. >> Well, Bradley Wiggins is just about a kilometer and a half before the finish line. Should be able to conserve the big advantage he has had throughout the doof. He started the day with a big time gap on Jurgen Vandenbrook. The man in the in the lotto jersey there from Omega Pharma. Robert Hastings starting the day a long ways down. Stage win perhaps still up for grabs. Kristoff Karen going for another one today. His accelerations have hurt Bradley Wiggins. Well, Yokim Rodriguez, Bob, stretching it out. Had a great early start to the season. Rodriguez, he finished second in the Amsel Gold race, second in the Flesh Wall, and today he's looking to try and get himself his second victory of the season. But Bradley, what do you do? If your name is Bradley Wiggins, you're leading this bike race by by a minute and 11 seconds from Cadell Evans. But the guys in front of you are riding. What What do you do with your mind? >> I stay on Veno Kurov's wheel unless I die. If I don't die, I'm still on Veno Koul's wheel. Give everything to stay with Feno. the most dangerous man now in the overall standings. Vino Kurov will ride a steady tempo to the finish. Just about one kilometer to go for our race leader. If you're Bradley Wiggins, you have almost done enough to defend that jersey on today's stage, but ride a little bit conservatively. Don't give everything away to make a big statement because tomorrow is another hard day in the mountains. As we look into the face here of Bradley Wiggins, let's remind ourselves that he started this day a minute and 11 seconds ahead of Cadell Evans. Evans is behind him. Yanni Brachovich was a minute 21 behind. He's now behind him. That's the important thing. He started the day ahead of Alexander Vinorov who he's riding with at the moment. The only man who is at least a threat is Jurgen Vanderbrook. He started the day in sixth place looking for 2 minutes 28 seconds. Wiggins at 1 kilometer to go. Bob, he should not panic. He should not panic. Just ride his tempo. He's so far done a great defense of the yellow jersey. He's been able to marshall his efforts here. Cadell Evans closing the gap now with Chris Anchor Sorenson and JC Perod. Kristoff Karen continuing to be very impressive. Jurgen Vandenbrook just a small advantage over Bradley Wiggins. Wiggins really struggling on these very steep steep slopes to the finish town. Bob, I got to tell you one thing. The organizers of the criterium dopaneer this year have been awful. I mean, what about three mountain top finishes in three days? This has got to be a serious testing ground for the tour to France. Guys like Wiggins, Finorov, Jurgen Vanderbrook, they've got to be thinking now, well, am I ready or am I not ready? Wiggins on the back foot. >> It'll be very interesting to see what Wiggins says after the stage. Staying on the wheel of Ven Kurov. Vino Kurov trying to get across, opening a little bit of daylight to Bradley Wiggins. I wouldn't be surprised if he tries to to say that he was conserving himself for tomorrow's stage. If that's the case, great riding. If he's going flat out to match these accelerations though and gets dropped anyways, that's a very tough day for our race leader. >> Wiggins is fighting back, Bob, there in the yellow jersey. He's got himself into that mindset. It's as if he's riding an individual time s or a pursuit on the track and that's what he comes from. He is the Olympic medalist at the individual pursuit, the Olympic gold medalist at the team pursuit. He knows how to ride. He knows how to suffer and that kind of suffering on the track is going to really [cheering] bode well for him today. >> Most definitely. Wiggins fixated on the back of Alexander Vino Kurov. He's going to close that gap or he's going to die trying. He will give everything. He's going to turn himself inside out. As I said yesterday, Bob, a Brit has not won this race since 1990. And that was Robert Miller. And then you have to go back to the 1960s and Brian Robinson. But what Wiggins Wiggins is not thinking about winning the Dolphin. He's thinking about the tour to France cuz a British rider Bob has never been on the podium at the tour. Guessing now going over the top. Good move by him. Been very quiet. I think he chose this weekend just to test himself out as Wiggins goes into sixth position on the road. He's biting. Look at that position. He's looking at the wheel of Alexander Vikorov saying, "Mate, you're not going to leave me." >> This is Walkin Rodriguez zipping up the jersey. You might not have time to do that. He better look behind him and see where Robert Hasting is. Hasting just put in a big attack there, but Walkin Rodriguez now confident of the stage win. But here comes Hasting. Ess is looking for the win himself this afternoon. You might just have noticed Rodriguez sipping up his jersey there. V. I'll just explain to you why he's doing that. He knows now that he's going to win the stage this afternoon. And of course, he has a sponsor. His sponsor is Kusha when he lifts his arms into the air in victory. He wants to see Kusha right across the screen of the television. And there it is. Great win by him. Second victory of the year after his opening stage win in the tour of the Bass Country. >> Very impressive win by that man. Walk Rodriguez came into the doofine struggling a little bit after finishing the Jurro, but he came good here on stage number six. Robert Hastings has left all of the men he was with behind also for a fantastic second place on the stage. Well, look at the backdrop there, Bob. We go a long way down into the valley, but this is a testing ground today for Robert Hink after a very dominant performance in the Tour of Oman in the early part of this year where he won himself the time trial, the mountaintop finish. He gets second today. We'd given him a little bit of bad credit here in the crater dopy, but I think today he's come out to prove us wrong. Yogen Vanderbrook coming in for third place. Kristoff Karn for fourth place. Where is Bradley Wiggins? Fifth place is going to be Alexander Vinurov. He needs a lot of time. Nobody's going to rumble the foundations this afternoon of Bradley Wiggins because here he comes. Yes, he's lost a bit of time, but not on the men who are closest to him in the overall standings. Wiggins will still reign supreme >> and he'll have a handicap on everybody that was in the top three. There's Cadel Evans. He's going to lose a little bit of time to Bradley Wiggins and it is a great defense of the jersey by Bradley Wiggins. I got to hand it to him a lot of credit. He went at his own tempo. He never seriously got into trouble and did a great ride. That was an incredibly difficult final climb of today's stage. Well, the man who started the day in third place in the overall standings, Yani Brachovich, last year's winner, Bob, has crumbled, losing himself almost four minutes. >> I'm wondering if he is saving something for the tour to France rather than go flat out on the doofine. Big loss to the stage winner for Brachovich. Walk Rodriguez put four minutes into him in the last few kilometers. >> As Yokim Rodriguez [music] comes up to the finish line, we'll take a very short break and when we come back, we'll have the podiums and the overall classification. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on Versus the superior lightbeer. Perfectly balanced for the ultral light and brought to you [music] by Physique. Check out Physique's new high-performance R1 and R3 road [music] shoes at physique.com. And by Clean Bottle, the bottle that unscrews at both ends for easy cleaning. Get [music] yours at REI performance bikes or atcle.com. Welcome back to stage six of the criterium dofane and the finishing line [music] at L Diva where we've just seen a very good loan victory by Yokim Rodriguez [music] crossing the line well ahead of everybody else with a welltimed load attack with 3 km to go. He gets the victory there ahead of Robert Kessyn and of course Jurgen Vanderbrook in third place. Christopher Kern over the last couple of days is looking [music] very strong for fourth. A little bit further down the overall leader Bradley Wiggins cross the line in sixth place and rounding out the top 10. ninth place for Cadell Evans and Thomas Vogler in [music] 10th. So today the Michelob Ultra ride of the day I think Bob we have to give it to the stage winner Yokim Rodriguez. Yokim Rodriguez [music] followed an acceleration by Alexander Vukurov then went off on his own did a lot of kilometers by himself off of the front never got more than about 30 seconds yo-yoing in front of the acceleration from the men [music] attacking Bradley Wiggins. But Wen Rodriguez was able to withstand all of those attacks and win a [music] brilliant stage for himself in the Kusha squad. He had been promising for a couple of days to get himself a stage victory at the criterium dopion. That's why we've given him the Michelob Ultra ride of the day. >> Well, Bob, I have to say he did say before the start of the Criterium Dop, he wanted to get himself a stage victory. He's been given three opportunities. He's come up good on stage two in the mountains. Confirmation of a great stage win by Walken Rodriguez. A beautiful day for the riders in this stage of the Dolof. Walken Rodriguez bringing the fitness forward from the Judalia. didn't have a high standing in the overall classification, but a great stage win for Rodriguez and team Kushia. >> So, just to confirm the overall standings, Bradley Wiggins opens his lead over Cadell Evans now to 1 minute [music] and 26 seconds and Alexander Vinorov moves up into third place. And with that great ride today, Christoph Kern gets himself inside [music] of the top five. Looking a little bit further down, Yokim Rodriguez climbs up into sixth, Constantine Cifoff [music] in eighth place, and Thomas Bookler rounding out the top 10. Notables including Matthew Boucher moves down a little bit. Tough day in the mountains. Baso [music] up. Robert Kasync a good ride to move into 38th overall. Danny Pate continuing to race well. 40th place for Danny Pate. Dave Sabriski had a decent ride as well. He finished 65th. Well, Bradley Wiggins might have crumbled a little bit on the final kilometers of this climb, Bob, but he did enough to stay at the top of the overall standings with just one day to go. >> Pretty amazing. They did a big gap on Cadell Evans and Yanni Brockovich and dropped both of them before the finish. Great riding by Bradley Wiggins and the entire Sky team. One more day between Wiggins and absolute glory in the doofine. >> Well Bob, if he can ride tomorrow the same way as he did today, he should run out the overall winner. But the attacks will surely come again from Vandenbrook. >> Another tough climb to finish off tomorrow stage up to Lu Swear. We saw a great battle in the tour to France a few years ago on the same slopes. Bradley Wigan though is on the cusp of what would be the greatest stage win in his career. >> So as Bradley Wiggins walks away from the podium, one more day for him to find out whether or not he's going to win this year's criterium dofina. And don't forget the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra continues on versus tomorrow with two [music] elite cycling events. It all starts at 2 p.m. Eastern time with the final stage of the criterium dofina immediately followed [music] by stage two of the tortois. The epic cycle continues tomorrow beginning at 2 pm Eastern time only on Versus. And for a full schedule, [music] log on to our website at NBC. It's the final journey through the French Alp [music] to conclude the Citadium Dopina. Can overall leader Bradley Wiggin survive his greatest week with victory at top the Alpine giant Latus? [music] We'll find out next on Versus. After a week of racing, one final stage remains [music] to crown a champion in this year's Couterium Dofin. Team Sky [music] leader Bradley Wiggins has proven himself worthy of the yellow jersey with a strong defense of his lead in the mountains. [music] Wiggins is fighting back, Bob. There in the yellow jersey, he's got himself into that mind. He knows how to ride. He knows how to suffer. With two summit finishes over the past two days behind us, just one final summit remains. Today's short but painful stage takes [music] the pelaton over the monstrous colder on route to the finish at top Latus. [music] As he's shown all week, the ever aggressive Alexander Vinurop will not go down without a fight. And with the to France on the horizon, the animators of the race will surely not hold back today. The conclusion of the criterium dopane is next ones. [music] Heat. Heat. [music] As spring [music] gives way to summer in the French Alps, it's the big showdown today for the riders in the Catium Dop. They'll cross La [music] Cuader. They'll race on and to finish on Latus. Will Bradley Wiggins hold on? I'm Phil Liard. Alongside me is Paul showing and welcome now to epic cycle Sunday presented by Mick Lobaltra. Paul you have been calling the race all week here on Versus and I think you've seen a man come really mature this week in badly. >> I'd have to say Phil not just a man I think a team because Sky Pro Cycling team have really come up to the mark this week and they've done a great job defending the overall lead of this man. Well, I'll tell you what, Wiggins, remember he did that great performance two years ago in the tour to France. Seems to be back to that form. And of course, he's lining up for this year's tour to France. Now, will he win? Well, it'll be a tough call. I think this is the overall standings going into the final day. [music] 1 minute 26 over the big favorite Cadell Evans and Vinulof in third place. Further down, Rodriguez, who won yesterday, he's [music] up into sixth place now. The top 10 completed by French champion Thomas Vla. Great [music] ride by Matty Bush, the rider from the Radio Shack, the American National Champion, Ivan Basso, climbing better and better as the race goes on in 33rd. Well, I think on a daily basis, Paul, they've expected Wiggins to surrender that yellow jersey first in the mountains on Friday when Kristoff Ker won again, then yesterday, and he hasn't done so. Now, is this going to be the profile that will crack it? I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of men feel they will give everything on this final day. Starting from Ponchara, it's a very [music] short stage at only 117 km Phil over the colder gland and quadair. That is a 22 km climb and finishing off on Latus. They'll have to throw caution to the wind because when you look at the profile, it's a beast. Well, let's have a look at that profile. It is only a short stage, but can Wiggins hold on because they're going to throw everything at him and it's going to all come at him in the last two hours of the racing for sure. The quad affair is an absolute brute every time you climb it. And of course, it's all uphill to the finish this time around. And let's join the action now just inside 50 kilometers to go here. And this is TBO Pino of France trying to make a bid for FDJ. As you can see, he's got a minute 25 over the group containing Durk and Voer 148. So, they're splitting up as we expected here. And the yellow jersey is back in the main field with all the favorites around him at the moment. It really is going to be showdown. The last climb of the day, Paul. >> Well, talking to Shan Yatesville earlier in the week, he actually told me he didn't think this race would be decided until the slopes of Latusa. We can see now this is the remnants of the 11man breakaway that formed out of just 12 kilometers in the early part of the race. Leonardo Duk was trying to get himself into the break and you can see him right there in the spotted jersey. He leads the King of the Mountains classification. >> Well, I think it will be a showdown on the on the final slopes of the day and that's where I think the big names will start to move. >> Well, as we look at the group here now, it is well split up at the moment. But the big thing is this is the lower slopes of the quad affair now which in itself is a brute of a climb. If you follow the tour to France with us here on I hope you do, by the way, this mountain always has huge crowds because it's a very steep climb towards the end, isn't it? >> Well, it's a beast of a climb. It's 22 km long, 13 mi of ascension, and it'll take most of the riders in the main field around about 40 minutes to get to the top. >> This this group here still very content, but there's the yellow jersey of Bradley Wiggins. Huge test day for the man. The Sky Team are dedicated 100% today to making sure he does become the third ever UK rider to win this. I can tell you what, Paul. Brian Robinson, who won this race in 1960, the last Englishman, in fact, to win this race, uh, will be watching this on television back in the UK because he's such a great guy. He's a big enthusiast. And in those days, he was a real pioneer for British cycling when he did score in 1960 and he went on, of course, to win. Before that, he'd already won a couple of stages of the tour to France. Yeah, looking here at Pino, Frances, Dear felt that this was a good day to try and get themselves off the front end of the main field. And Mark Madia actually reckons that this breakaway could be the decisive break here. But it all depends on how Team Sky decide to race. But I have noticed that Team Kusha have come to the front to do some pacemaking. And that's probably because their their man Rodriguez wants to get another stage victory. >> This is the narrow road made famous for the colder quad. This is a very narrow roaded climb. It gets away from the trees towards the summit as well. Duk, there he is passing through in the King of the Mountains leaders jersey. Not bad for a sprinter to be in the King of the Mountains lead just at the moment in this group, but it's the third group on the road which is containing Bradley Wiggins with the protected favorites around him. They're going to have to hit him, but I think they'll wait to Latusier. >> Yeah, this is too hard to hit it here and we're too far too far to go. And you've got the long descent down into the valley as well. This is the group of Duket at a minute and 38 seconds. the main field in fact at one stage allowed these riders almost five minutes advantage but then really because of the work done by team Kusha on the front end of the main field they've pulled it down to a more sensible margin of just around about 2 and 1/2 minutes >> and this is in fact we talk about the main field Phil there's not really very many riders left in this group because you know we are on the early slopes of the quadair Wiggins there in the yellow jersey this morning by the way Ivan Basser went up to the the man there in the black jersey of team sky Edward Bosenhog and he congratulated him on the job of work that he did for Wiggins yesterday. >> Yes. Well, he's a bit short on teammates at the moment, but I think that's to be anticipated as they're all trying now to just get in there. Cadell Evans is in this group. He cracked a little bit yesterday. Let's hope he can find his legs today. It's a big test bed for him. He's going to go into the tour to France as one of probable three favorites to win that race with Conidor and Sleek. If of course Conidor gets to ride the Toto France, we still don't know. But the race is split up and it's spread across [music] 2 minutes and 13 seconds at the moment. Wiggins hanging in. We'll take a break. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelob Ultra on versus the superior lightbeer. Perfectly balanced for the [music] ultralife and brought to you by ShraMM componentry. Beyond performance. [singing] [singing] Say [singing] [music] hi. [music and singing] Well, as we rejoin the action now, it's changing on the slopes here. The caldera laafur. And the gap, as you see, has come down from 2 1/2 to a minute 49. The tempo has visibly lifted in the yellow jersey group. And I think Paul, I saw Rodriguez leave the yellow jersey group and join the second group. Well, he was he's trying everything he can to try and keep himself off the front end of the main field and he's looking for over 3 minutes. He has come right across the gap there and he's caused a little bit of constonation in the main field. But again, Team Sky doing an excellent job. In fact, I did notice there was another rider from Team Sky in there, Rioberto Uran. So, that could be quite useful when we get down towards the final climb of the day for Bradley Wiggins. >> Yeah, they're going to need him. The green jersey is Rodriguez on the right of the picture here. He literally sprinted out of the Wiggins group and caught this group as easy as you will, but it might be just the advanced party because I think the Wiggins group is also coming up here now. Still alone out front. And here's the legs of TBO Pino. Second year professional, but he did win the King of the Mountains in the tour of Romany last year in his first season as a pro. So, he's not going to be afraid of this climb. No, he's not. And he's actually riding very well. You can see he's ticking those pedals over nice and smoothly. Every now and again, he's getting out of the saddle just to keep pressure on at the front end, but you can see that move by Rodriguez. He's sitting in about seventh position there in the light green jersey. But what he's looking to do now, Phil, is to get rid of Leonardo Duk, the rider who started the day in the overall lead in the King of the Mountains classification. And I think Rodriguez wants to win the points classification and the King of the Mountains, too. Well, that would be a nice consolation after his win yesterday. He moved up to six overall in the classification for time as well. This looks like Jerome Copel who's slipping away from the back. There's about 20 riders now in that second group on the road. The race has just started. I think this is lifting the tempo now. Rabo Bank. Don't forget Hessink would like to do something today. He's not been the outstanding success of the week, I must say. As we look out now across the jagged peaks of the Alps for the first time ever on Versus, we're bringing you these pictures in high definition of the Dolphin Liberace. Well, Fino, he's got himself a very good tempo riding. He doesn't have to think about anybody else in this bike race this afternoon. and all he's got to do is ride in his tempo, try and conserve as much of his advantage as possible over the top of the climb. Then he's going to have to make a daredevil descent and hope he can conserve some of his time as he goes up latus. But I think it'll be very difficult to do because I'm sure Cadell Evans, Alexander Vineur of Hess, and all the other guys who are sitting behind Bradley Wiggins will go for the move. >> Well, we're looking here now at Cadell Evans himself as you were 71. He was the outstanding favorite. I have to say both Bob Ro Paul showing and me picked him to win this race. Well, he's in second place. I'm not too sure he has the ability now to get the better of Bradley Wiggins. We'll know on the last climb. I gave the Freudian slip just then. I called it the Critium Dofen Liber. That was its name, but since the race has now become organized by the Tour to France, they've just called it the Critium Dud. Uh that looks like Kristoff Kern who's having a great last three days in this race, isn't he? >> Yep. But now you can see two Sky Riders coming to the front. Bzenhogen on the front doing an incredible job of work for his teammate over the last couple of days. And moving up into the next position there, Riabberto Uran, a very good climber. Wiggins looking comfortable in the yellow jersey. He's just got to concentrate. He cannot flap at all because he knows we're going to have a showdown on this final climb for I know it. >> Well, since Rodriguez fled the coupe and hit the front there, then they've had to lift the tempo to try and limit his escape. He's a dangerous man, especially if you let him loose alone on a hill as he's evidenced by his win yesterday and of course he is winning the tour to France at Mond on a hilltop finish there as well last year. But uh the gap at 137 is timed to this rider here, TBO Pino, secondyear pro now and never won a professional race and uh he's showing quite a nice show of defiance on the Cold Qual. Look at the lovely slope here which is great unless you're a professional cyclist. I think I'd rather be watching it on television than being sitting in that group with Bradley Wiggins at the moment. But it is quite magnificent, the Alps. This is the most beautiful they've looked over the last three days in these mountains. And what a final it is for the Criterium Dofphane. And it is going to be a very difficult final. I don't think the Dofane has ever had a more difficult last three days of the event. Well, we're at 44.8 kilometers in the summit. We top out at 39.5 left to go. So, we've still quite a way to climb up this mountain. As Pino well knows, he's led up all of the quad affairs so far. His lead of 2 and 1/2 minutes plus has now come back to a minute 42 on the Wiggins group with the Chase group in [music] between. See you in a moment. Saturday, June [music] 25th, it's the Isot Indie Car Series. It'll continue on versus with the Iowa Corn Indie 250. Watch as Indie Car invades the Hawkeye State, preceded [music] by Firestone Indie Light at 6:30. It's the Iowa Corn Indie 250 Saturday, June 25th [music] at 8 Eastern, only on Versus. >> Well, the leader now is about 2 and 12 kilometers from the summit of the Quader. Nice sprinkling of crowd have come out up here but it's a very narrow climb now and Tibo Pino is hanging in but only just well he's hanging on to a good chunk of his advantage there around about 1 and a half minutes in front of the group which is still being led by the riders from team sky doing a great job for Bradley Wiggins but Wiggins has to stay calm now Phil because it's not on this climb that I think we're going to see any attacks coming it's all about the final climb of the day up to Latusia well he's shown no hesitation at all this rider this is a typical ical move by Mark Mdio, the manager of team FDJ, because he really does choose his events, but he gets some great results out of his riders. This is certainly a plan of the day. He's no threat to the overall lead of Bradley Wiggins. He's lost double figures over the week of racing. So, why chase him down, but of course, he's got to survive. He's got to climb at two very steep mountains to win the day. And he's never won a race as a pro. Well, he probably thinks this is the top of the climb. And I'm going to have to be really mean and [cheering] tell him no it's not because this is the top of the culdeon. There's another couple of kilometers more as we start to go up to the top of the quadair and that's the first time he will start to go downhill properly. >> So a little bit like the linking of the colder telegraph and the colder Gibby. We'll be seeing plenty of that mountain in the toance. Now we've gone down here. It looks as though we've got two new riders on the move here. Robert Kessing has made a move. He's been joined by Yakima Rodriguez and they've gone clear of the Wiggins group. Now this is serious. This is very serious because the man in second position there in the green jersey. He's looking for points in the King of the Mountains classification, but he's only looking for three minutes on Bradley Wiggins and three minutes on the slopes of something like Latus is very easily done. Yes. Now, yesterday's stage winner Rodriguez has had to make his move early because 3 minutes couldn't be got I don't think on the last climb of the day. He's made his move bang on schedule here and this has got to be a concern now to Bradley Wiggins, but he can't afford to panic just now. It looks like we've got Rioberto Uran on the front now because Boyce and Hogan seems to have dropped away. Only nine riders left in that yellow jersey group and Wiggins will be concerned but he can't afford to panic just yet. >> No, having lost Edward Benhogen and only one rider left he knows now. But anyway, Phil, if you look at the other rides in the group, there's not that many other riders got teammates either. So, it's all about man against man on the final climb of the day. There you can see just looking over to the right hand side briefly that's the summit of the quadair. >> Oh it's a beautiful sight perhaps not from the saddle of the machines here but even so as just making a quick scurry across his Kristoff Karn the winner on Friday which was also uphill into Leger and this boy's having an inspired week I have to say. >> Well you know in the early part of the season he had a very hard time finding his form at all. He had a serious knee injury and the team manager Jean Renee Bernardo just looked after him and brought him up and now all of across the gap to this serious challenge and this is going to be a little bit of a constonnation I think in the mind of Bradley Wiggins. >> Well, it's a great group. Three very very good climbers. There's the man who's manufactured the leader today Mark Matt Rubé. >> He's he's actually I'm just listening to what he's saying there Phil. He says you're you're a long way from being beaten here. Just constant continue to ride like this. You've got a very good chance of staying away especially on the on the descent. Well, he's a man who knows how to coach the winners and he's picked some good ones over the years because he hasn't got one of the top teams in the world that we talk about regularly, but he's he gets the big wins out of his riders. He really inspires them and so at the moment it's the new pro Tibo Pino in his second year up front. These are the three getting together. The most dangerous is the man at the back in the green jersey of Rodriguez. He needs three minutes to win this race, so he's had to go early. >> Well, what about Kristoff Kernfield? because he's in fifth place overall. He's looking for 2 minutes and 52 seconds. So, we could be looking at a bit of a turnaround here. Bradley Wiggins cannot allow these riders to go too far off the front end of the main field. >> Well, I take my hat off to um the other guy, by the way. He's lost over 16 minutes, I think. Not bad for a man I thought would have been on the podium at the finish. Paul, but he's had a rough week, hasn't he? >> Well, I think he's actually ridden easily this week and he's just saved himself to test himself in the mountains the last three days. So maybe that's why he wasn't too concerned about the first part of this race. >> Ah, the Muton all lying around the fields here of the high Alps now because the snows have left us until the end of the year. This is the leader of the race on the road. Remember, he's all he wants is a stage win. It will be his first ever win as a professional. Uh but I don't think he's going to hold off these riders much longer. Those three are coming up. 48 seconds, but about a kilometer now from the top of the quadair. He's looking around down the long slope there to see if there's anybody approaching him. I would think he'd probably see them because this is quite a straight road just now. Then the descent and then of course we're on to Latusa which will bring us up to the finishing line. >> Well, he's just uh he's being sensible as well now, Phil, because one thing that all riders forget to do when they're riding on a mountain stage because it's pretty hard to eat when you're going uphill, but you have to keep taking on board energy to make sure that you you conserve as much energy as possible for the final climbs of the day. And on a mountain stage, you're either going uphill or downhill. And it's very difficult because you're always concentrating. You tend to forget to keep eating. >> That's right. And at the moment, every time we go back to that chase group, it seems to be Robert Kessing. There's the kilometer to go. Uh doing all of the work in those three. I think he's testing himself again today for the tour to France. He's using this to see how his climbing ability is. He did it in the time trial, which is going to be part of the tour to France this year as well. Yeah, I think that's exactly what his plan was and he rode exceptionally well in the early part of the season and I think team Rabbank are going to be a team to be reckoned with at the Tour to France because when you look at Peter Weining and Robert Hessing both riding together on the same team at the Tour to France, they'll be hard to beat in the mountains. >> Well, look at the face near now of Uran here and he's the last survivor of Sky now and that really is the limit. Once he's gone, it leaves just Bradley Wiggins to defend the yellow jersey on his own. That I think is to be expected at the moment. Looks like Vandenbrook's got himself up here for Lotto as well. Vinurof is there. So the men that matter are still there, but they've let two go. Fifth and sixth place overall in Karna and Rodriguez are going to cause constonation. They certainly will there. There you can see the banner indicating 500 meters to go to the top of the climb. And this man can breathe a sigh of relief because he will go over the top in first place with a slight advantage over the riders behind. And all then it depend depends then Phil what happens to him on the descent if he can open up a bit of a lead >> 500 m he'll get maximum points I think on this all category climb but Rodriguez will go over in second place and uh well you're the mathematician Paul but he's going to be very close then to taking that jersey away from Duke. >> Yeah he was looking for 15 points at the start of the day and so I think if he goes over in second or even in third position he will take the overall lead away from Duke. And of course, let's not forget, I'm pretty certain that Rodriguez will get points on the finish line as well. >> Yeah, and that will be a win and a change of leadership on the last stage. Not something Bradley Wiggins wants to hear with that yellow jersey. More help from Mark Mio. >> He's saying there's the top now. Go for it and then keep going. Three riders coming across, but they're not gaining now. They've only knocked off a second. Well, he's he's picked up his game here as he gets up towards the top of the climb and he's probably going to be a pretty good descender because Mark Mdio, he likes to put all of his riders into Cyclross during the winter season to home their skills, especially when it comes to maneuverability and going downhill. I must say, apart from his graying hair, he looks no different than when he was winning Patty Rubet and the likes Mark Maddio. But there's the wind. He's had a nice climb up this to say the least. And it's a good crowd for this time of the year. Of course, you wouldn't put a pin between them if it was the tour to France. Uh but it is the citadium dofina and he goes over the top. Tremendous show of force from TBO Pino. The clock starts now. 59 seconds. They're saying the Wiggins group is but they're after these three. That's the most important target. And look round the corner, Paul. They're about to bring them back. >> And it's Wiggins himself, Phil, who's come to the front and said, "Right, that's enough. No more playing around with me, young men, because I am going to take over the role of leader of this bike race." Well, it's absolutely brilliant for for Bradley Wiggins this when he gets his head into gear with his bike. He is such a strong cyclist on the road and he's now joined those three riders and he's only one mountain away from winning the criterium. That is what you have to do if you want to win a bike race. There are time Oh, somebody just fell down in the middle of the road there. One of the spectators came out. But Bradley Wiggins, he waited for the right moment and then all of a sudden he showed why he's the leader of this bike race. And I have to say, he's going to be difficult to dislodge. I think when we come up to Latus >> well he ow he owes it to rigger to Uran and earlier was Hargan to keep him in position but he showed the ability to finish it off himself well rig to Uran in fact he's recovered a fraction there Phil and he's pulled himself back into this group as much as he knows that he has to stay for as long as possible with Wiggins >> well it says 59 seconds that's the gap as they go on the way down the quadur and Bradley Wiggins is [music] one mountain closer to final overall small victory. But wait for the last climb. We'll take a break. [music] And as you rejoin us, we're looking at the group which has reformed here now. About 11 riders chasing the leader. But we've just seen little Thomas Voer, the champion of France, take one or two risks and he's broken clear of the Wiggins group. We'll pick him up as soon as we can because this is a very very dangerous and technical descent. >> Well, this is Tibbo Fino, the rider from FDJ on the top. And I have to tell you one thing, there is no safety barrier here on this descent and it's a long way down if you overcook one of these corners. Second place on the road. This man is an extremely good descender. Thomas Vogler, I'd have to say, Phil, he's had his best ever season so far this year with eight individual victories around the world. Now, watch the way he does this. gets over to the left hand side, out the knee a fraction there, goes through the apex of the corner and as soon as he sees it starting to straighten up, bang, he accelerates again. >> There's the yellow jersey group going into that same corner now. Ver trying to bridge the gap to a fellow Frenchman. The two Frenchmen get together. They may well climb up to the finishing line and take first and second on the day. They've Oh, dear me. And he's locked up a little bit there. Oh, they built a safety barrier there. Obviously a bad one. We've only had one French stage win all week and uh and that was with Kristoff Karna on Friday. Now Voy Cleave, he looks down to the left there. He might have caught a glimpse of the fleeing Apino, but watch this next bend. Well, this is what it's all about. These descent, these are very tricky and technical descents. You've got to go as fast as 55 mph in the straight. Then round the corners, you slow down to about 25 mph and all of a sudden you've got to accelerate once again. Well, this is another skill in professional cycling going down mountains at high speed. >> Well, just looking at this, in fact, Bradley Wiggins, there he is. I was wondering if they'd opened up a gap here. You can see Alexander Vinurov is in third position in the line. He's the kind of rider also who likes to take a few risks on the downhill part of these courses. >> Cadel Evans just sticking to the back of this line, keeping an eye on progress from the safe position of the ticket collector's seat. It looks like he's decided it's all or nothing on the final climb of lap 2. is going to have to make one and a half minutes on the climb to take that jersey away now from Bradley Wiggins. >> But this man, I have to say what what a star he's been this week. He's been instrumental in getting the victories for his own team. He was very close to getting a victory very early on in Lyon, but I have to say when we were looking at the Urbup Car trying to set up the race a couple of days ago when Kristoff Karn went, I thought they were setting it up for Thomas Vogler, but he's kind of become the the team captain out on the road now. Well, when Voc crossed the line a couple of seconds behind Kristoff Ken, he was the man that gave the double arm salute in celebration of his teammates win. He was as excited as if he'd won the day himself. He's really had a terrific season already of Oakler and uh bank on seeing a little bit of him in the action in the tour to France this year. >> Almost certainly he'll be looking for the stage victory. He's the French national champion, the second time he's been the national champion. and he'll defend that title in about a week's time when the riders from the Tour of Switzerland and the Doofane Liber all get together for the last big tuneup before the tour to France. >> 12 riders descending here. Wiggins has all of the favorites around him because he's caught up now with Rodriguez and Karna. Put them right back in their place as they go down what is a very steep start to this descent. These herpin bends at uh quite uh quite surprising angles on those corners. Probably 20% on some of them as they start to drop off. Well, Wiggins now has just got to stay nice and calm. He doesn't want to make any mistakes going down this corner. At least he does have a teammate up alongside him. The rider just a second from the back there in the black racing cape. He's Rioa Urana, a Colombian rider on Team Sky and a very good climber. Well, it was 40 49 seconds over the top of the mountain. It's now gone out to a minute two. So, TBO Pino is doing very, very well here as he approaches now the 20 miles to go point, but there's still one climb to come for him. See you in a moment. Straa.com is a social training website where you can follow the pros, compete against local cyclists, and track your performance. Grab your GPS [music] device and get started at straa.com/verus. Straa, built for cyclists. [music] Now, let's see how you can compare here with the riders in the doofina because we're looking down from the helicopter. We're just on 20 miles from the finish. Still going down away from the quadair and Bradley Wiggins will be liking what he's feeling at the moment because all of the favorites are around him. You might have noticed Thomas Vocal is now halfway across the gap. He's just 30 seconds to build up to catch up with Fip Pino on the front end of the main field. And he is, as I said earlier, Phil, a very good descender using as much of the road as possible and he's very aggressive when he gets out of the saddle. Well, Vulkar will be best remembered, I guess, for his campaign in the tour to France in 2004 when he wore the yellow jersey for 10 days. Uh, and uh, he really fought to keep it away from Lance Armstrong for as long as possible. The inevitable happened, of course, but Voer really made his name all over the world on that occasion. And this year, he's having one of his best ever seasons. He's had eight wins already, and he's chasing down the leader on the road. Well, these guys have taken it careful going around these corners. A dodgy little corner that one. The yellow jersey firmly on the shoulders there of Bradley Wiggins. He now has got to wait. He's going to start to tick off the kilometers thinking that he's going to be the third British rider ever to win the criterium dof. It'll just be a question now. Wiggins is not going to do anything. He's just going to watch everybody around him. He doesn't care if TBO Pino or Thomas Voer win because they can't possibly recoup the time they've lost all week. So, there'll be nothing coming from Wiggins. The gap is going out. I think that's to be expected as well because they're waiting for the slopes now uphill and then Evans has got to attack if he can and I'm not too sure he can. Well, he's got a big makeup to do as well. 1 minute and 26 seconds is what he's looking for. I think that's a very good buffer for Bradley Wiggins because Wiggins doesn't look like a man who's in any difficulty at all. He's always looked comfortable. Whenever the accelerations have come, he's responded to them whether through his teammates or himself. Now look at these gaps. Now, Phil, it's still the same difference between Pino and the group of the yellow jersey. Thomas Vogler now only looking for 20 seconds. >> Well, I reckon he will come across, but he might not get across till we start the climb up towards the finishing line. 19 and a bit miles left to ride now. This man getting on with the job in hand, Tibo Pino. He's received all the encouragement from team manager Mark Maddio. Here's the man that could spoil the party for him, though. The French champion is trying to hunt him down. He may not get him till the start of the slopes, but nobody's going to chase Thomas at the moment. >> No, he's in 10th place at the start of the day. He's looking for four and a half minutes. I don't think he's going to pick pick up four and a half minutes on Bradley Wiggins on this stage of the day. But what he is looking for is a bit of glory and he wants to get himself another stage victory to add to the eight that he's had al already this season. 31 years of age now. A voer turned pro in 2002 and he's chasing a secondyear professional here who continues to descend like a veteran as we get down to [music] 30 km or 90 miles left to the finish. Welcome back. We're looking at the final stages now of the Coutium Dofen with 29 kilometers still to go about 18 and 12 miles left. Ativo pino who's led all the way up the caldera held a lead of 49 seconds over the top now being chased by Thomas Vlair. The Wiggins group with all of the favorites around him are locked in a battle for the overall race title. This is Voer just looking now for 10 seconds. And in fact Pino just looked over his shoulders. He will know that Thomas Vogler is coming along and I think he'll probably wait for him at this point now, Phil, because he realizes the two riders together, two French riders together have then all of a sudden got a very good chance of creating the surprise and getting a stage victory today. Well, this is such a typical move by Thomas as he tries to get across now to Pino. You're right, Paul. He's going to come across to him for sure now. He's only about 10 seconds, maybe 12 behind him and it's going out all the time to the yellow jersey. It's back to 1 minute 10 now. Well, the reason for that, Phil, is the group of the yellow jersey, that's all of the real pre-race favorites, Wiggins, Evans, Vineor, Vandenbrook, they will not take the risks that these two breakaway riders will take on the descent because they're thinking about the final climb of the day. These two guys are on a different agenda. Yeah, they want to win the stage. They've lost too much time all week to win the race. Wiggins will be very happy they're out in front. There are very small time bonuses at the top of the mountain today. 10 seconds if you win the stage comes off your overall time 6 seconds and 4 seconds which means that Wiggins wouldn't like riders close to him to get away and steal those bonuses. There's the catch. Comes at 28 km to go about 17 miles from the finish and he's not even waiting for him. Now Tibo's got to pick up the action here because once you've let Thomas Vler out of the pen, this man waits for no one. Well, this is a good move now, I think, for the Frenchville because looking now at the junction of the two, we're doing an exceptional job. And Thomas Vulkar, as I said, is a very good descender. And in fact, the yellow jersey group is starting to swell quite a bit because of the riders who were dropped on the quad of Fairfield starting to take risks and coming back into the group. Yes, it was 12 in that chase group, but it looks as though it's significantly more now. It's got to be up to over 20 riders as they've regrouped on the descent. Tiff's got himself back, I think. And again, you see there's nobody interest in those two leaders. They're now thinking of the final attack which will decide this race for the overall and it's got to come basically from Cadell Evans. I think we can rest assured that Alexander Vinakurov will attack because that's his style of riding. >> That is his style. He doesn't have a race handbook or a manual. He just attacks when he feels good and I think he's been feeling pretty good throughout the whole of this criterium dofina. But watch out for the men in the orange jerseys because Rabo Bank I think they want to stamp their authority on this final day of the criterium duffy. And look how hard it is for Pino to stay in contact with Thomas Vogler. Well, Vogler is a master of the descents. We saw them earlier when he got away on the descent from the yellow jersey group as he came down the mountain. Clearly going faster and taking more risk. Pino being put on the defensive here. He's having to bridge all of the time off every bend. >> Well, in fact, you might have noticed there Thomas Vogler looked over his shoulders. He's a very s sensible tactician. He saw he was putting a gap between himself and the rider from Frances Derture and he said, "Right, I'm going to wait for you because along the valley road, I need some assistance." Then on the climb, we can duke it out. >> That's right. That Let's uh remind you that they say that if you ride behind the rider in front on flat roads, you're saving 30% of your energy. So, he needs those little breathers behind Pino before he pushes on for the finish. I think he will go clear of Pino on the last climb. >> He's got great form. He's had great form. who has been promising all week to do something rather special. Thomas Vocal as we look down at the yellow jersey group now of Bradley Wiggins. They are cons continuing to lose a bit of time. It's a minute and 20 seconds now as we look at 26 1/2 km to go and that's about 15 miles. 22 riders in that chase group of the yellow jersey. All of the top riders overall are there. And Wiggins is still sitting pretty in yellow and looking good as we approach the last climb. And the epic cycle continues on versus a full schedule of cycling here on es today as up next is stage two of the towiss. Fabian and Canelara won the opening time trial, [music] but today's stage has some serious mountains, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. And stage two of the towiss up here next on this. >> Well, we're back with the two leaders here. They've come together at around about 17 and 12 miles in the finish. We're now just over 15 to go. And Thomas Voer, the champion of France, he's flying that flag on his national champions jersey just in front of T-Bo Pino. The pack are 75 seconds back. They're actually losing ground at the moment. Well, Thomas Vogler, every time he feels that it's slowing down a fraction, he comes right up to the front, but he's led a very good descent. 25 kilometers to go. That's the official distance to the finishing line in Latusia. And around about 11 11 of those kilometers, Phil, six miles are uphill. Yes, the last six miles brings him to the top of the mountain >> and uh Vler needs Pino just for a little while longer. Whether Pino can help him, well, we'll wait and see now as Thomas Voer has bridged the gap to him. They've lost too much time to win the race overall. They won't recover that. They're only 74 seconds behind ahead rather. That's nothing. But he desperately needs to get to that last climb now because it won't favor him on the flats. >> No, it certainly won't. Thomas Vogler won the final stage at Parinne this year which was over a very mountainous terrain over the the Caldez and the TBI but he also won a stage earlier on in that week as well taking two stage victories in Paris and really has been a great season for him but I think the big surprise came for me Phil in May when he won the four days of Dunkkirk which interestingly enough is six days long six days long and a very difficult road with his cobblestones in northern France that was Juan Manuel Geratti there doing the work at the front former champion of Spain and indeed a winner on the top of the colder to a couple of years ago as uh we watched him now taking the lead there. Robert Kessing on his back wheel. They've just gone through 25. 70 seconds at 25 to go which is just over 15 miles from the finish. >> Well, Garate doing that pacemaking on the front field because he obviously got the nod from Robert Hessing who's told him I can win this stage today and that's why I think team Rabbank have come to these final three days as they have. >> Now Vulkar at the front. Tibo looking a little bit in distress I think now having led all the way up the quadur got the point at the top of that major mountain there's the gap being shown 1 minute 10 they're saying our computer saying 1 minute 10 as we speak so we agree >> we agree and we agree that we've got 25 kilometers to go the main field looking at around about a minute and 10 seconds but they're starting to take a little bit more serious attention to the twoman breakaway but but what a deathdeying descent there by Robert Thomas Vocal to come down that he bridged 1 minute on the downhill part of the course. >> 22 riders, that's all that's left in that field. In fact, it's grown from 12 on the descent of the quadair. Few more getting back on. Good pacemaking by Garate. Clearly revving this up to launching, I think, onto the attack because there's no other reason for him to do this. Now, Kristoff Kern in the green jersey of Urup Car moving up to the front end as well. He could also be a little bit of a threat in the latter part of this race. And I noticed Cadell Evansville is being more attentive riding at the front end of the pack. >> Columnv coming on board there, the champion of Russia just getting through to the tail as well. He might have already been in the group and dropped back there to his team car, but uh this is the 22 riders. Now, what would you feel like now, Paul, if you were Bradley Wiggins? You're approaching the last climb of the week. You tried to become the first Englishman to win this race since 1960 when Bri Robinson won. and uh and you know there's just one mountain to stop you. >> Well, I think he's he will have his confidence will have built over the last couple of days, Phil. And he knows now that he's got a couple of teammates back up alongside him that will also boost his confidence knowing that he can feel he can rely on somebody to pace him over the early the early few kilometers. But I think he's he's he's really matured this week and I think he's uh seen the maturity of his team come on as well because they've been quite impressive in the way they've looked after and defended his lead. Well, it'll be Skye's biggest ever victory if they can get it. And from the back to the front for Alexander Column, the champion of Russia. He's now setting the pace. We'll take another break. Rejoin us shortly. [music] No. [singing] >> [singing] [music] [singing] >> looking on the sharp end of the chase group of 22 riders here trying to bring back now Thomas Voer the champion of France. and another Frenchman in Tibbo Pino at 25 km to go. It was a minute 12. Now we're at 23. It's a minute 1. So they've pulled back just 11 seconds and the road is beginning to tilt upwards again. >> It certainly is. You can see different teams as well coming to the front to do the pacemaking. Team Rabbank getting some help here from Kushia. And Kusha obviously trying to set something up for Yokim Rodriguez who in fact Phil was only fourth over the top of that last climb. but he got himself 14 points and enough points to take the overall lead in the King of the Mountains classification. >> So a polka dot jersey awaits him. It's the reverse of the Tour to France. It's white spots on a red jersey instead of red spots on a white jersey. But same organization, different race, exactly 1 minute now and that is a stunning picture. It is amazing. The pictures have been fantastic all week and having them in high definition is quite remarkable. makes me get excited for to be in the tour to France already. >> Life at the back here for Cadell Evans, the pre-race favorite a week ago and he hasn't let us down, has he? Because he sits in second place, but he's won two major stage races this year and he would have liked to have added this one. Only one Australian, by the way, has ever won this race, and that was Phil Anderson back in 1985. Well, I think Cadell will probably have a little bit of a dig on this final climb of the day because he he knows he he wants to win this race. He wants to get some confidence, but he's going to be very difficult to try and dislodge Bradley Wiggins. In fact, Wiggins I thought was climbing better than Cadel Evans yesterday. >> Well, we'll see because uh things change. This is a very strange hill, this one, the Latus. We don't use it that often, although we have used it. It's the famous hill of course where Floyd Landis ran away to victory in 2006 to France and after many years of saying he was innocent, he then confessed to taking drugs and was disqualified from the race. But looking down here as we see the two leaders again, it is Voer showing Pino how to go down mountains. >> Well, he's a great descender, Thomas Vlip. And every corner he goes around, he's just got the perfect line. And that's why he keeps opening up the gap on Pino here in second position. And the time will come, I think, when Voc is just going to have to say, "Look, mate, I can't wait for you anymore." >> It may have come actually, Paul, because he's open quite a bit of a gap here. It's a beautiful day in the Alps, I have to say, as the sun has come out. It's not the same all around the rest of Europe. There's a lot of rain around, but it's fine as far as the Alts are concerned and that's most important for these boys. These descents will be horrendous in the wet. Well, Voca opening up a little bit more of an advantage. I think it's a timeout now for Pino because he just cannot get around these corners the same way as the French national champion can. And he's opened up around about a 15-second advantage already. >> About 10 miles from the finish, the climb starts. And that is around 17 kilometers to go on our indicator there. So we're about 3 kilometers from the start of the finishing climb up to the top at Latusia and Pino. Our camera's not allowed to go forward yet, although I think the gap is opening rather rapidly. They might get by Pino in a minute and leave him. He's clearly been dropped by an absolutely flying Thomas Vler here. Well, Vogler realizes now, Phil, he's around about 5 kilometers or 3 miles away from the start of the climb proper because the the climb of Latusa is actually 15 kilometers long and an average gradient of 5.8%. >> Yes, up to the ski little ski station up there. You go shopping when you get to the top. As this is the chase group still being led uh here by Garate. I think that's Garate whistling at the motorbike actually saying, "Move over, pal. We're coming through." Well, he knows this is a point where he can try and bridge that gap up to the the leaders because he's trying to set this race up for the man in second position and that of course is Robert Kessing. And you can see they're actually opening up a bit of a gap because the speed of Garate on the front. >> Let me introduce you to the Thomas Voller from Spain now. Manuel Gerati who's starting to do a nice descent himself. Kessing is prepared to go with him here. I think it's Kristoff Kern got to the front of the chase as well. >> Oh, there's a crash. Somebody's gone down. That was just halfway around that corner. Well, I didn't even see it happen. All of a sudden, all I saw was a bike rider in the road. >> I think it's the AG2R rider who's gone down. Uh, >> that could be. >> If it is, Pe was in that group. >> Well, he was right near the front as well. Well, look at the skill of the riders. I don't know what happened to him, but he got away with it and he should get back on his bike. He looks okay. Thank heavens. 50 seconds. The gap is coming down at the moment at 19 km to go. That's inside 12 mi now. We were about 2 mi to the start of the climb to the finish. >> Well, this motorbike driver is doing an excellent job here because you know very often the motorbikes can't get around these corners as fast as the bikes can because the bike you can actually lean it over a lot more and you can keep your speed up around the corners where the motorbike can't. >> Well, there we are. Nice surface at the moment, but the roads remain narrow in this part of the Alps in France as Thomas Bller is going for the stage win. Who will get it? Take a break. The date to note, July 2nd. The tour to France begins on Versus. Watch the world's best riders compete in [music] the most prestigious cycling event of the year. Its 3-week journey around France [music] makes it the most epic race ever. The tour to France begins July 2nd on Versus. Well, as you rejoin us, we're still on the descent. And look at this man go down. He sticks his right leg out, then his left leg out. He clips off the apex of the bends. He should be in Formula 1 car racing. Well, he knows how to do this. Again, one of the French riders who rides cycllo cross in the winter. And it's a good sport to practice. Not only does it give you good foundation when you're using it in the winter, but it also gives you that little bit of practice of how to ride your bike and how to get round corners just like this. And this man for the moment hasn't put a wheel mark wrong. >> No, he hasn't. And he's also blown poor old T-Bo Pino off his back wheel there with his superb descending skills. Pino not willing to take those risks. We're looking at the chase group. It's a little bit ragged, but it is still basically 22 riders strong. Cadell Evans sitting off the back just staying safe here on the way down. If he's got any plans, those plans will be enacted once we start the climb up, which is around about 15 kilometers on your screen. Just on 9 miles to go. Evans being nice and calm at the moment, but he knows this is really the calm before the storm. But these two riders have done a sterling job. Juan Manuel Gerati pacing his teammate Robert Hessing off the front of the group. Hess a long way down in the overall standings. But I think probably Phil that was his tactic for the do this year cuz he wanted to test himself out in the mountains. >> Although he lost I think it was over 3 minutes in the time trial, he was very happy with his time trial because it's the exact course that we will use in the tour to France. Uh because this is the same organization and that was a perfect test. Now he's testing himself again. You can only test yourself in race conditions, can't you, Paul? You can go training all you like, but you don't know how you compare to the other riders. That's the big problem. That's why riders choose races like this, the Dopane and the Tour of Switzerland to get over these mountains in race type conditions. And at the moment, we can see that the gap is 25 seconds already to Pino. So, he's pretty much out of it. And the group Mayo, the yellow jersey group that we're looking at here with Cadel Evans, they're still locked in at 105. They're not breaking it to the advantage of Thomas Vogler. >> It's all on the last climb. Wiggins knows it and Wiggins will just watch the men who are nearest to him. Gadell Evans and Alexander Vinakurof. He won't bother with anybody else. He's not going to lose two or three minutes on the climb. So, he'll just concentrate on the whereabouts of Evans and Vinurof. And if he holds them within sight, he'll win the tour at the top. >> It's quite amazing looking at Thomas Vocal because in the early part of his career, he was not really a very good climber, but he's he's kept at it. He's matured as a professional bike rider and over the years he's started to become a fairly good climber, especially to be up in the front on a stage like this. >> And these are the ups and downs as we start to get onto the approaches for Latus. I don't think we're on the climb just yet, but we're certainly starting to go up as we're watching here now. Thomas Voyer, he knows this climb. He's been up it before. He knows what he's got to do. His biggest worry now is certainly hessing because that's fine work being done by Gerate. and once on the slopes guessing he's going to try and cross that gap on his own. >> That's what he'd be looking for and that's the big question. Can Voke get himself into a rhythm to resist the return from the back of the race of the big names? The big names will be coming out to play and to fight this afternoon and Rodriguez will be looking to get himself across the gap. Kessing will be looking to make the move and Gerati Phil on the front here is just sacrificing himself for his teammate. This is why we always talk about professional cycling not being an individual sport. It's a team sport. You need teammates along time alongside you. >> That's right. He's setting him up now by setting the pace here. Remember that Kessing is following in his slipstream, waiting for the moment to make his bid. He's waiting for the climb to start. And there's a little bit of a reshuffleling going on here. It's the descent which have caused the damage. A lot of riders a bit nervous. Cadell Evans has moved up just a little bit here. And the rider just at the front there is Jurgen Vandenbrook as well. 15 kilometers to go. And that means more or less now we are starting the climb of Latusia. >> Vlo looking over his shoulder just to ascertain whether the road behind him is nice and clear. Very shortly he's going to have to find himself a rhythm. We're still sitting comfortably in the yellow jersey. Bradley Wiggins. >> As we look down, Bradley Wiggins finest moment is it literally just around the corner in the Craterium Dofen because [music] when he gets to the top, this is where he hopes to pull on the winner's yellow jersey of this year's event. Good luck, Bradley. See you in a moment. [music] >> [music] >> And there he is now. Thomas Vogler, the champion of France. Free to fly or are they going to bring him back? At the moment he's hit the climb of Latus with a gap of a minute and 23 seconds. The Pelaton such as it is 22 strong. In fact, he's not the Pelaton. These two got away on the way down the quadifur. It's Manuel Gerati on the front trying to launch Robert Hinking on the attack to take the stage. He's got to catch up with Vlair. >> The amazing thing is Phil, it's actually the downhill that's created the most damage I think in the last 15 to 20 kilometers. But Geratti sacrificing himself for his teammate >> and still waiting, waiting, waiting, relying on the strength of Juan Manuel Gerate there just for the moment. While Cadell Evans has got to attack and he's got to attack in the next couple of kilometers if he's looking to pull back nearly 90 seconds on the finish of on the yellow jersey of Wiggins. Now that's where we're going. And the Oh, he goes around the steepest part of that bend. Young Thomas Voller. This is now on it. It is a tough little climb this Paul. >> As I said, Phil, 14.8 kilometers long. He's undoing his jersey there to try and keep himself just a little bit cooler. It's a warm day, by the way, in the Alps at 24° C. Now, for Thomas Vocal, he's got to find his climbing legs. Now, let me see. 24° C. I think that's around about 75° F. 1 minute 20 seconds is the gap. Remember, not on these guys. These are close. And there's Barati. He's done his job right. You're on your own. He's now got to sprint that gap shut. He the first man he will see if he's really flying and he looks like he is will be TBO who's just ahead of him. >> Yeah, he's just in front of the yellow service vehicle there. The service vehicle looks after all of the bike rides. As you can see, Phil, he's lost a lot of time, more than a quarter of an hour, but really what it's all about for him this afternoon is trying to get himself an individual stage victory in the Alps. Well, it'll be another proof to him that he can do a good tour to France, and that's all he's thinking about now. He's used this race very much as a preparation race this week. He tested himself in the time trial. He's now tested himself on the mountains. He wants the stage win. This is the compact group that will decide this year's criterium and Bradley Wiggins is waiting for somebody to attack him. Well, he knows the attacks are sure to come. Alexander Vineorov starts today in third place overall. He's looking for a minute and 52 seconds. Cadell Evans in second place, looking for a minute and 26 seconds. But this man is doing a stormer. He's extending his advantage over the yellow jersey group all of the time. But he wants to know the position of this man and at the moment I reckon he's looking at about 45 seconds. >> Yes. And I reckon he's the only man that can spoil the French party here because he is really attacking this climb with just about everything he's got left after a week of racing. And he's still got to get up to Pino is just there now. So he's closing the gap. That will bring him up into the second place. He might be a bit surprised that he's not seeing Thomas Vler as well, but Voller has gone away and he's now about 40 seconds in front. >> Well, Hess had a fantastic start to the season by winning not only the big mountain stage [music] of the tour of Oman, but also beating Fabian Canelara in the individual time trial to take the overall victory in that race. But since then, Phil has been a little bit quieter. I think he's been preparing for the criterium dofin for these mountains and of course for the big rendevous of all professional bike riders in the month of July the tour to France. >> A little feeling of fresh air on his right shoulder. Pino looked round there and now this is the management here Bernardo. >> He's now shouting at Ver say Robert guessing is coming up so let's go. Well, when this uh this this team was signed up in the winter months Europe car, Thomas Vocal had actually signed for another team, team Coffeidus, but part of the contract said we have to have Thomas Vocal on this team. So, he asked the team management of coffee if he could go back to the French support team of Jean Renee Bernardo and the team was born. >> Well, that's a nice French cooperation. I can't imagine it ever happening in any other country with a rival team. But well done for the French in colluding there because Europe car is a first time sponsor in the sport of cycling and we go very close to their base in this year's tour to France. In fact, I think we go right into the town where they are based. So they'll be wanting to ride well in the tour to France, especially in the opening week. Now it looks as though Pino has managed to just hang on here to Kessing at the moment. Still looking very determined. He's on the ride of his life this youngster as well. The second year pro minute 25. Well, it's beginning to look as though this might be the winning move. Not this particular one, but the move by Voer and these two riders. >> Well, they're getting across the gap, but it's still a 58 seconds between Robert Hessing and Thomas Vogler at the front. So, Vocler is not losing too much of his advantage, and I think he's in such great form. He's climbing like a magician. >> Well, Pino there is just riding very good gearing there. Got on his inside chain ring at the front. He's looking quite relaxed. He's not panicking. There's the group which is uh handing this race over to Bradley Wiggins. They really thought he would not survive this last three days of this year's Adop. They expected him to be somewhere near the front after the time trial favored him, but no, he's actually showed he can climb mountains as if we didn't know. He can climb. He showed us two years ago in the tour to France. But he has to have his head right. He suffers a lot with his mental approach. >> But I think he's got it right this year and I think he's happy with the team. the team they were they were a developing team last year and it's very difficult to put a team together and go straight into success but this year they are looking like one of the top teams in the world and yes Bradley Wiggins did finish in fourth place equaling the position of Robert Miller and isn't that strange because Robert Miller was the last British rider to win this race he was indeed Miller winning it back in 1990 and before that it was the English rider Brian Robinson who won in 1960 that's that's it for the Great Britain teams over the of this event. And now we'll see if we can add the the third one here in Bradley. >> Well, Kessynink is got across the gap. He's caught up with Pino, but now he seems to be you get to that point when you make that first initial burst of an attack, then you you reach you reach your limit and you can't go any further forward and I think he's getting into that position right now and at the same time I think Thomas Vocar in the front field, he's upped his game as well. Andre Zites sitting at the back here for Astana the team of Alex Vinakula who by the way did win this race is the only rider from his country Kazakhstan to win it back in 1999 sitting in third place at the moment and looking good for the tour to France. >> I just noticed Jerham Copel the best young rider has got himself back into this group. He started the day in 11th place. Yanni Brachovich he's in uh he's in ninth place in the overall standings. Cadell Evans second place. Well, last year, of course, his brilliant ride in this event got him his selection for his first tour to France. I think he'd be automatically in for the team this time around, and he's perhaps not riding with the same required vigor. He's probably backed off his form a little bit because he wants to have a great tour to France. Sensible place to ride there for Brad in the yellow jersey just sitting right behind Alexander Vinorov as once again we've got Rioto Iron coming back up to the front. He's doing a great ride over these last couple of mountains. Well, this will be a huge result for Team Sky if they can survive to the finish. And it's only just over seven miles now to the finish or just under seven miles actually. 11.8 kilometers. And there's no attack come from Vinurov or Cadell Evans. Have they said we can't beat him or are they going to give you everything in the last 10 km? [music] We'll see you in a moment. and Thomas Vler climbing steadily but there's the tonk on 32 seconds in fact for those two chases at the moment and just about the same gap back to the mayo group of Wiggins which is 22 riders strong welling doing that job just getting himself into that mind frame to just try and eat into that advantage you'll be looking around all of these corners and there in fact you can see the man that he's been chasing it looks as if it's fairly close but it's still 30 seconds between Hess and Pina and Thomas Blander. >> We'll see how that closes down now because all of the work is being done by Horessing here from the Raba Bank team. It's been a great season for Raba Bank ever since they won the tour down under at the beginning of the year. They've really done well all year but Hess is their man for the tour to France and he's showing that he's getting ready for that tour and everything according to plan I think. Well, you can see the the danger at the back now there. Andre Zates Timan have got three or four riders in this group, but sitting right up at the front in about fourth or fifth position is Alexander Vikurov. Best young rider, Jeram Copel. >> Yes. And doing well in that white jersey of best rookie of the tour as we continue. And this rider here is Tony Martin. >> He's hung on in there. He's had his ups and downs, but he had a great time trial. >> Well, he had a fantastic time trial and he said basically he's he's had a big chunk of time away from competition. And that's why he suffered a once or twice in the mountains. But again, like many of these riders, they're using the Dolphin to home their skills, to home their climbing legs for the tour to France in July. Yeah. And he's going to feel very happy with his form today, particularly hanging on in a very elite group. His last year's winner at the moment, Brachuvic. And he's still up there in the action, although he did slip a little bit yesterday down to ninth place overall when he was a podium finisher until yesterday. And Cadel Evans still holding second place. The only man getting the better of him is Bradley Wiggins. And Cadel Evans remember twice the runner up in the tour to France. And one poses the question, will he ever win it? And I thought this year probably be his best chance. >> Well, you know, he's had ideal preparation. He's been given the freedom to prepare for the tour to France as he wanted to by the team. They didn't force him to ride the Jirro ditalia as they did last year. So, he's done what he wants to be ready and it's only the only the roads of the tour will tell the difference. Looking up the road there, 10 kilometers to go, 6 miles to the finish, slightly more, marginally so. And Thomas Verler will see that board and will be feeling very happy with himself. >> Well, 48 seconds back to the yellow jersey group. Phil, we're going to start to see this race coming back together. And that if we get off the lock straight, you probably see all of the main field together. >> I think Verler's crack because they're right behind him. They're right behind him, these two riders. There they are. And Voller, I think, is suddenly locked up on the climb at the 10 kilometer barrier. >> Well, he's out of the saddle. He's fighting with his machine. Compare his style to the smooth pedaling style of Robert Ess in the orange jersey of team Rabbank. He's picking it up now. He'll be You'll be encouraged by the fact that he's ridden across the gap to Thomas Vogler. Actually, what Vogler is doing here, Phil, he's he's waiting a bit to try and recover so he can possibly stay with Hessing. I wonder because I'm I'm laughing Paul because Mark Maddio who's in the team car behind he's now seeing his rider at T-Bop Pino put himself right back in for the stage in which he told him a little while ago he could do and guessing he's testing Voller but it's not going to be tough enough. Voller is very very easily into the slipstream of Pino. Look at his eyes. He's concentrated. He's really suffering this man and he knows he's in with a chance of a victory and he will pull himself inside out now Phil to stay in the slipstream of Pino and Hessing. But the main field still no moves coming from them. No. And at 9.8 kilometers, 6 miles to go to the finish. I think Bradley Wiggins is starting to feel uh nice and fresh and he could step up on the winners podium in not too long a time now. Maybe 20 minutes or so. There's the time of day against clear blue skies here at Lusu. >> Phil, they've been climbing for about 12 minutes so far and there's still 9.7 kilometers to go. 6 miles still to go to the top. The attacks will come, but I think they're going to wait till they get a little bit close to the finish. >> They'll throw everything at Wiggins. But can they I think they're leaving it far too late, which to me indicates that they haven't got the ability to knock Wiggins off the top. has been very strong and pretty impressive, but he hasn't got rid of those two French riders. I'm beginning to feel as though Tibo might well be becoming the French favorite for the stage win again. >> Yeah, but look at Wiggins. Calm and collected just sitting on the wheel of the rider in front of him thinking just a little bit longer and I'll be crowned the winner of the criterium dud. Was looking down we've come up a long way so far and there's still a bit of snow on those there peaks. Well, this would be an exceptional win. And remember, he's going to do it without winning a stage of this race. He's just got round the course with the best time. He's led it now for the last. This will be the fifth day if he were to keep his lead right to the end. And the group here all under pressure. Hats off to Rioberto Yuan here, the teammate of Wiggins in the Black Sky Colors. He's done all of the pacemaking, dragging them up this mountain. The gap is 38 seconds. They are closing in. I can't believe it. It could be a group spin to some 25 riders at the top. >> I don't think that's the way it's going to run out here this afternoon. You can see the work being done by Uran. He's a great rider. He never really won many many races. He won three races way back in 2007, but he's always been a solid rider to have on a team. >> Copel sitting at the back there hanging on in the best rookies jersey, the white jersey of best newcomer here, best young rider. and he only has to keep these boys right there to win that award because there's nobody endangering his lead in this select group of climbers as they head up towards the finish. 9 kilometers to go. We're less [music] than 5 and 1/2 miles to the finish. Wiggins is feeling good. We'll take another break. Well, some interesting spectators here now about to witness its showdown time on Latus as we join up with the three leaders here. Now you can see the time gap. It's 36 seconds the spread to Bradley Wiggins. This is Robert Kessing who's joined the leader Thomas Voer who's at the back of these three at the moment and Tibo Pino who's been at the front ever since the start of the climb of the quadair. Three against the rest. Well, the rest are being led constantly by the team sky rider Rigoa Uran who's doing a phenomenal job here this afternoon. I have a feeling we will see the moves coming from this group as we get a little closer to the finish. I can see Alexander Vinorf is starting to feel twitchy. Yokim Rodriguez feels that he can make it two in a row. And of course, Cadell Evans, I think he wants to test himself leading up to the tour. >> Well, there's no doubt the tempo being set by [music] Bradley Wiggins teammate Uran at the moment is telling its tale at the back of the group, but he's keeping it at such a fast speed that nobody can seem to get away from the group. They can't lift the pace. This is Pierre Ol, another of the riders who was very aggressive on the stage yesterday. And just in front of him making a comeback on the slopes of the climb in the red and white jersey. David Monuchier. >> Well, Monuchi's just tagged onto the back of this group for Coffidis. Kristoff Kern, the Europar teammate of Voer in front, is in third place as we look down from the helicopter. Bradley Wiggins sits in fifth place. The pace being done all of the time by his one surviving teammate. They're not directly concerned by these three. Wiggins will happily give one of them the stage win. But if Rodriguez makes a move and I think it's too late for him. So if Evans or Vinudov go, they're battling out. Don't forget second place even if they can't get the win because they're only split by 26 seconds. So they've got to attack. Well, Hess now is really starting to put the pressure on. But it's not having the effect it had in the early kilometers of the climb because Rigger Uran is pulling the group of the yellow jersey back towards these three leaders. It's now just a mere 18 seconds. 18 seconds, 7.4 kilometers to climb. That's inside. Five miles to the summit now. And TBO is zipping up and turning up the revs a little bit. And that's a surprise, but he's gone. And he's forced the other two onto the defensive. Now, Mark Mdio, did he know something? We don't know. This man can climb. >> Well, he certainly can climb, but with Well, in fact, by moving to the front there, he's in fact stretched the advantage out a little bit more. These riders, as you'd said, Phil, in the yellow jersey group are not really concerned about the stage victory this afternoon, but I have a feeling there's a certain amount of pride in riders like Cadell Evans, Alexander Vinorov, and Yokim Rodriguez. So, once we get to the steeper part of the climb, there will be a move. Well, Wiggins is counting these kilometers off one by one. He's now left with just seven to go. And he's still in the race driving seat here in the Mayo with a lead over Cadell Evans of 1 minute and 26 seconds. These three riders are fighting out the stage. They're too far behind in the overall to take the jersey away from Wiggins. He's not looking for them. He's just waiting for a move from Evans or Vinurov. Well, he seems to be have been reinspired by that little bit of assistance he got from Pino. Now, Robert Hess coming back to the front getting out of the saddle and battling with his bike. >> Well, he must know that that group has been closing in and 18 seconds on the mountain is not a lot. You can actually see a police outrider coming round. So the riders are going to start glimpsing the tail of these three leaders very shortly. This is Kristoff Karna here and just behind him, Alexander Vinakurov. Is he going to attack? He's not going to let us down and not attack because this boy is such an aggressive rider. Just licking his lips there perhaps getting ready for the move. Wiggins has got him nailed though. >> That's the yellow jersey on the shoulders of Bradley Wiggins looking for one of the crowning of his I would say one of his best road performances ever in recent years. >> Absolutely. Sitting behind him, Alexander Vinikorov just a little bit further back. Yokin Rodriguez in the green jersey. He's a dangerous man at a top of a mountain. >> He's got a hat full of Olympic medals and world championship medals all on the drrome. But now he's in the road race and he's come a long way since he was eliminated from the tour of Italy back in 2003 on the 18th day. Almost made it home. Now here he is set third to win the criterium. Chris Anker Sorenson on the move there. This is the first one. This is the first little ripple of acceleration. Sorenson ridden well over these last couple of days and he'll be riding alongside Alberto Conidor when we get to the tour to France in July. >> Now Chris Ankos Sorenson has gone. No reaction from the favorites. Why should they? He can't win the race either. And Wiggins is saying, "Boys, if you want to launch the attack, I'm waiting to follow." He's not going to chase any of these riders. >> Nope. He's not a dangerous man in the overall standings. And still Riberto Uran on the front doing all of the pacemaking for Bradley Wiggins. Wigan's just sitting there and he's waiting. He's got the numbers in his mind of the riders who he must follow if they attack and those numbers are going to be the number of Cadell Evans, Alexander Vinurov and Jurgen Vandenbrook. Holding at 20 seconds the spread of the race now as they climb up the finish of Latus and Bradley Wiggins will not believe his luck here. It's beginning to look as though the pacemaking by his teammates has made the pace that little bit too hard for Vinurov or Cadell Evans to launch an attack. Getting to the slightly steeper part of the climb now at 5.6 km to the finish. That's three miles. And Thomas Vogler realizes as long as you're off the front of the main field, there is always a chance of victory. That's why he's come to the front to give Robert Hess a bit of a breather. and Tibo Pino, the new boy on the block who started this move. He's been joined by the other two. He got dropped on the descent by Voller. He came back up to Voley with the help of Robert Kessing. He's still in with the shout of winning the day. There's the Mayo firmly on his shoulders for the past four days. This is coming to the end of the fifth. Will he change it for a winner's jersey now? No English rider has won this race since 1960 with the pioneer for British cycling, Brian Robinson. Watch out for Cadell Evans era just at the back on the right hand side in the black and red jersey of BMC Racing. The American team with a Swiss flavor because the bicycles are manufactured in Switzerland. Kissing getting into that rhythm again. He's a magnificent climber. Vogler looking over his shoulder trying to see what the damage is. What he will see is a gray and blue jersey of team Saxbank rider Chris Ancher Sorenson. >> Just looking at the face of Vera, he's not the smooth rider he was earlier in the day. And for me, I think he's really struggling to keep contact with Robert Kessing at the moment. This is the group. 29 seconds the gap. It's going out all of the time just now. Well, David Monkuchi, he was dropped on the descent before the start of this climb and he's forced his way back in here. He could be a dark horse to take a move off the front end of the main field. A very enigmatic professional bike rider. He can either ride at the front of the race or right at the back, but cannot ride in the middle of the pack. >> Well, there we are. 5 kilometers or 3 mi to the end of the criterium dofina and they're still working out how to get rid of Bradley Wiggins. These three 28 seconds the advantage. 3 miles to go. One of them can still win. We'll take the race to the finish [music] when we come back. This is the epic cycle presented by Michelobra on Versus the superior light beer. Perfectly balanced for [music] the ultralife and brought to you by Straa built for the avid cyclist. Track, compete, share. Go to www.straa.com/ver. [music] And by Clean Bottle, the bottle that unscrews [music] at both ends for easy cleaning. Get yours at REI Performance Bikes or atbottle.com. Clean bottle ride clean. >> Welcome back. And the 5 kilometers now [music] being shown to the chasers here containing Bradley Wiggins. The closing stages of the critium doful. And Wiggins must know now. Nobody's going to steal that jersey. Paul, you can't get 90 odd seconds on a climb with only 3 miles left. >> You shouldn't be able to. No. And Wiggins has to stay calm. It's not his responsibility to make any move at all in a stage like this, Phil. He has to defend his overall lead. Starting with a minute and 26 seconds over Cadell Evans is a fairly good buffer. But you can see now Jurgen Vanderbrook is looking for the wheel there of David Monkuchi in second position. Starting to get a little bit more nervous in this group. Phil. >> Yeah, they are. You can see they're beginning to get twitchy and Wiggins is waiting for somebody to make a move, but nobody has done yet. Chris Ankosson we've seen go. As far as I know, he's still up the road. We've got no camera with him now. Is this another little move coming from Coffidus? That's David Monuche. He was just looking over to see if there was going to be any response to his acceleration. And look at that. Chris Anker Sorenson has just about got across to join the three leaders making it a fourman breakaway. >> Now look at this. >> And there's the move. Now this is Van the Brook and they're immediately countering is Alexander Vinurof. No reaction now but Bradley Wiggins I think will feel 90 seconds is enough. He'll wait for the next move. It's got to come from Cadell Evans because there if Cadell Evans is defending his second place, >> Cadell Evans has made the move behind. You could see him in the red and black jersey slow. He's using a massive gibb and he's slowly clawed his way back to Jurgen Vandenbrook. That's the first of what is going to be a number of assaults on Bradley Wiggins. >> These are the last decimate moments of the race now and Wiggins has sort of countered that move. He didn't panic. Now that's an experienced man for you. Now Evans had to because if Vinurov had got away, he would have lost second place on the podium to Vinakurof. And that Wiggins just made sure he he profited from the infighting for second and third place in the race. He's becoming a very clever bike rider. He is. And he knows from experience you have to remain calm in moments like this because when you make an effort which is too violent, then all of a sudden you put yourself into the red zone and you can't recover. Jurgen Vandenbrook. There are people believe we could be looking at a man who could make top three in the tour to France this July. So he's going to try. Looks so Tony Martin is slightly unhitched here. I think he might get back on because the pace has dropped down just a little bit as Vandenbrook revs up. Well, in fourth position in the green jersey, Yokim Rodriguez, [music] watch out for him, the winner of yesterday's stage. And you're right, Phil, because Tony Martin, as they've slowed down in this group, has managed to pace himself back. >> Never give up. That's the saying of top professional cyclist because even though they are the best of the best, they still hurt on climbs like this, believe me. 4 kilometers to go for the leaders and is back in charge. Sorenson looking a little bit puffed after his chase across the gap is settling in. >> Jurgen Vanderbrook makes it another move at 4 km to go. And immediately on his wheel is Alexander Vinorov, but I don't think that one's going to open up any gaps except stretched. Stretched again. Well, it's quite pliable this elastic. He might well get back on yet again. But Martin has dropped off 72nd overall in the race, but a winner and a very impressive winner of the big time trial stage down in Renobyl. And that was on stage three. Now, this is the four leaders. They've got to keep going now because these are desperate moments. Take a look at the time gap. They are 9 seconds ahead and that is all. It could well be a sprint of about 15 bike riders. There they are. Well, this is S. An Son. He's off the front now. Vocer being very attentive every time there's that acceleration. He does not want to give up. He knows there's always a chance in the back of his mind of a stage victory. Look at his face. He's scrunching it up there just to try and concentrate on the back wheel of Chris Anker Sorenson. Sorenson stretched out a couple of seconds, but I think he's only really prolonging the agony now. Another attack here by Vanderbrook as he tries again. Vinulov Kexier answers it. Cadell Evans is locked on his wheel. Those two fighting out second place for Shaw now. Rodriguez is fourth. Kristoff Kern is fifth. And then look down there. You'll see the yellow jersey of Wiggins. And he's not at all perturbed now. He's just saying, "Boys, enjoy your day out because I've won the race." He's feeling pretty confident now. Wiggins with every kilometer that goes by. He's getting a little bit closer to being crowned the champion of the Dofina here. Jurgen Vandenbrook. He's really given it to them. I think we are looking at a the next Belgian champion. And I'd agree pot Phil that he could possibly get onto the podium at the tour this year. >> Well, I think it was that great tour trainer Johan Brunal who said that he believes that Vanderbrook can podium on this year's tour to France. He's certainly one of those rare Belgian cyclists who can climb mountains away from his own country where there aren't any. And he's looking very cool and calm here as he comes up towards the end of what is the final big test race before the boys take a slight break and head to the tour to France. Rodriguez launches his attack. Now, who's going to chase him? >> Well, he's got the jump. You see, Phil, you can see with the attack of Jurgen Vandenbrook, he's a very slow >> gone through the petrol station there. >> He's got a big diesel engine. >> They cut the corner off completely. >> Nobody stopped to gas up anyway as we all gone onto the slopes of Latusia again. H that has broken up the field. That was a great There is the break. Three riders reaching the four leaders and it looks like Chris Ancher Senson doesn't like that. Oh, TBO. Tibo Bino has put in a final attack here as he's seen the others come on to the back. >> Right, this is Wiggins now. He's got to ride in his own rhythm. They've thrown the attacks at him. We expected them to come. Alexander Vinorov has gone. Cadell Evans has gone. And Wiggins here, Phil must not panic. He starts the day with a buffer of 1 minute and 26 seconds. >> Yes, he's not panicked, I don't think. But he is struggling to close the gaps. I think we can say that in Furnace at 3 kilometers, just under 2 miles to go to the end of this race. Rodriguez [snorts] checks back again. Cadell Evans is hurting. I just saw his face there, Paul. That man has got no attack left in him today. >> No, but Wiggins is just sitting comfortably trying to pace himself up there as Cadel Evans the most dangerous man in this group cuz he's looking for a minute and 26 seconds. And I'm not sure that he can pull that back in the final 3 kilometers. >> I'm certainly can't right now. He must be more concerned about whether Vinulof can pinch 26 off him and take second place because Vinulov is looking quite strong. Having said that, Evans has come to the front now, despite the fact he's looking absolutely shattered. Look at this. >> Well, he knows it's a do or die effort now. There's only three kilometers or 1.8 m to go. Evans is using a massive gear and pummeling that bike of his hoping to see whether or not he can crack anybody else in this bike race. But Wigginsville ridden sensibly, didn't panic at all. He's ridden himself back into the group. sitting there at the tail of a very select group of climbers here and he's watching the meters tick off as we're getting into the streets of Latusia. 2.7 kilometers to go to the finish and there is that looks like Sorenson gone again. >> Chris Anchor Sorenson again but these these moves now these riders they don't have the ability to insist once they've made the initial attack. Just coming back to Bradley Wiggins, when you're not a great climber, you mustn't respond to the accelerations of guys like Anchor Sorenson or guys like Rodriguez, you've got to ride sensibly and drag yourself back up into the group. And exactly what Bradley Wiggins just did. >> Absolutely right. Because if he takes himself into that red zone where he can't get his breath, uh, then he will crack and he lose big time very quickly. So, he's riding his own race right now. He knows he's in a safe. He's built the buffer over all of the week of racing. This is again Vandenbrook who is starting to launch yet another high temper move. Kinka may be down but he's certainly not out. He's gone back into the lead. Yep. He's looking for the victory. He's laid a lot of effort into getting himself into the position that he's at. As we look at the number 121 on the yellow jersey of Bradley Wiggins again is pulling it all back together. Chris Ananka Sorenson though has been caught by Vocler, but very shortly he'll be caught by Hessink as well. Well, it's going to be a big weekend for the Sky Team because in London yesterday in an evening race there in front of 10,000 spectators, his teammate Alec Dowset won a nocturn race there which is held in the dark and he lapped the field and I'm sure Wiggins knows that and he's another name for the future. But right now, the Dofane is coming to the last 2 kilometers and the man who's going to win is Bradley Wiggins. >> Well, he's riding sensibly. He's allowing all of this aggression on the front end of the group and he's just keeping a very close eye on one man I think he was really more concerned about than anyone else and that of course was Cadell Evans. Evans on the left hand side and as you say Phil I'm not sure he's got the attack left in him. >> He can't possibly have it now. I'm I really think Cadell has been struggling to maintain this group to be honest but Vinurov I thought he would have had a go but he hasn't been able to produce it either. They've all been at the limit today I believe and Wiggins has been up for it. Well, Kristoff Karn, the winner from two days ago, he's moving up to the front end of the group. He's had a great doofin. And watch out for the the rider in the light green jersey, Yokim Rodriguez, because he's the man who's got the most vicious acceleration. Just sat at the back here, by the way. He's the AG2R rider who may have fell earlier on. This is Perro, Jean Kristoff Pero. We saw him fall on the way down, but he's back in this group. This is Kristoff Kern. He had his big moment on Friday with the biggest win of his life. He's only had a couple of small wins before he finally got a stage of this event on Friday for Europe car. >> And there is the select group. They've been yo-yoing from about 22 strong at the moment. We look to be about 15. >> Well, Kristoff Kern is riding in fifth place in the overall standings. And I think, you know, Phil, we have to use a cycling jargon here because I reckon every one of these riders is on the rivet. And that's a term coming from when the old leather saddles used to be held together with rivets on. >> You can't be that old, Paul. No, I I bought one in a museum, >> but they used to use these saddles with these big brass rivets, and when you pull yourself right to the end of the saddle, that that coined the phrase on the rivet. And right now, I think these boys have got not a lot left in them. They've had a terrific attacking race there. I hope you're enjoying this extended coverage, by the way, here on because we've had a real chance to see these boys attack one another today. >> Well, Kristoff Kernney's dishing out a hard tempo to everybody. Look at the faces of all of those riders, Phil. And that I think is something which will be a sight for sore eyes, especially for Bradley Wiggins. 1 kilometer to go. >> Yes. And uh whatever happens inside that kilometer, if uh if Bradley falls off, then he gets the same time. He still wins the race. So that part is now safe under the international regulations. Big cheers underneath the 1 kilometer kite. Now, uh the the climb itself does level out a little bit too. So there's no worries now for Bradley Wiggins. The big question mark is who's going to win the stage. >> Well, I would say the man with the biggest acceleration is Yokim Rodriguez, but the man with the biggest ego is Alexander Vinurov. >> Yeah. And he'll have a go. Believe me, it's a typical finish for Rodriguez, but I've got a feeling it's going to come from a strange quarter here. The way Kristoph Kern is riding, he's still setting this up because Thomas Voit can sprint. I've forgotten about Voller sitting there in fifth place. That's why the rider from Urup car is doing this storming ride on the front. Vler now will be starting to think, "Yep, I've got this one." And he he said that this was the stage that he wanted to try and win. >> Well, we call him Tricky Tommy Voller. And not for good reason because this man is a terrific bike rider. He's such an entertaining character and he won't have given up at this stage of the race. And now comes the move from Rodriguez. Quickly shadowed by Cadel Evans, who would like to go out on a high, but he can't manage the speed of Rodriguez. It's goodbye. Well, he's gone. He's gone very hard. is about 500 m to go to the finish. He's opened up a very smart gap. Cadell Evans tried to get out of the saddle and chase him, but I tell you what, the chicken has flown the C. >> Oh, are you kidding? Two days, two victories for Kokuim Rodriguez as we look down from [music] the helicopter. You can't bridge that gap in 500 m. And that what a weekend he won yesterday in the Cole Delvad and now we're looking at him winning here on Latus. They're leaving it too late. Well, I tell you what, having the Jiro Ditalia in his legs, Phil, has given him some serious power over these last three days in the mountains. >> Two out of two for Yakami Rodriguez consolidating his finish of sixth overall in the event as he looks back at the chasing group. That's how you do it. Conducts the orchestra up and a great victory indeed. This is the sprint for second place. Guessing holding on. Tibo of T-Bo Pino well done gets second ahead of Kessik Vandenbrook Vin Kurov Anchor and Cadell Evans all over the line there but well done to Bradley Wiggins who now becomes only the third rider from the United Kingdom to ever win this event. >> Uh Kristoff Kern coming up but he really pulled himself inside out to try and set that victory up for Thomas Vocal but nobody Phil nobody had the match for the acceleration of Yokim Rodriguez. Well, there he is as he finishes a nice slow motion picture of Bradley Wiggins punching the air. It was in doubt to the very end. Nobody believed he would survive these mountains. Well, he did. >> So, there's the result. Rodriguez getting his second win in as many days. Pino brilliant second for the youngster. Hess in third. Looking down the list, Vinudov fifth, Cadell Evans seventh, and the top 10 by the yellow jersey himself, [music] Bradley Wiggins. Well, let's have a look now at a Mc Globe Ultra ride of the day. Well, yesterday we gave it to Yokim Rodriguez. I have to say though, Paul, today we've got to give it to Tibo [music] Pino. >> Yeah, I think a very great ride, a courageous ride. He led over the culde quad bear. He really turned himself inside out to stay in that group and getting second place at the end of the day I think was phenomenal. >> Yes, he's [music] still waiting for his first ever win as a pro, but today he really matured. So, Tibino, our Mlo Ultra ride of the day. Well, there is the victory of Yakuim Rodriguez. What a race he's had, Paul. He's won two stages, the king of the mountains and the points competition. >> Well, I tell you what, I think having the Jirro ditalia in his legs, he recovered over the week between the Jirro d'Italia and the Dorfin. And he had a fine pair of legs over this last weekend of racing. Now he's going to prepare for the Vela Espa at the end of the season. >> And what a great season having two. second in the Amsel gold race and also second in the fleshwalon and fifth in the Jirro dital Italian. >> So there it is a little bit of history. The third British rider ever to win the doofin Bradley Wiggins wins in 23 hours 33 minutes. A minute 26 over Evans. [music] No change at all. Vinudov is third. Jurgen Vandenbrook fourth. Fifth Rodriguez who came over Kristoff Kern with his victory today pushing Kern down to sixth place. Top 10 completed [music] by Thomas Bller. Well, three big names on the podium at the end of the doofen Paul. Three big names who could also podium in the tour to France. >> Yes, I think we're looking at the the big protagonist for the upcoming tour to France, but Bradley Wiggins has answered a lot of questions over these last couple of days. I think he's going to be possibly a top three. >> Well, Bradley Wiggins refound his old form of 2009 when he finished fourth in the toilet of France. He becomes only the third rider from Great Britain to win the doofen. First was Brian Robinson back in 1960. Then the Scott Robert Miller won in 1990. Vin Kulurof who won this race in 1999 had to be content with third this time around. And the Cadell Evans still waiting to win this one, but he continues a very good season. Well, as we pan around the M Blanc Glacia here, I can see that Bradley Wiggins has come out of behind the podium. Let's hear what he's got to say. >> It's a bit surreal really now. It's now it's over. and it hasn't really sunk in yet that uh you've won the dolphin but uh once again the team were fantastic today and uh I can't thank them enough uh throughout the week they've defended me made my job as as easy as possible and then once again today right to the to the last step there so yeah it's fantastic and once again on the last climb I didn't panic just rode my own tempo and kept coming back to the group but uh fantastic it takes takes a lot for someone to attack and then you know carry on that tempo and as you saw they can attack but once the group you know they have to keep get going. So, I just bear that in mind the whole time. And uh yeah, I mean, a couple of cases ago, I knew I knew that I'd won it and uh I could afford to sit up in the home straight and enjoy it a little bit. >> A very realistic interview there from Bradley Wiggins who heads into the tour to France now with his eyes wide open. And that wraps it up for another edition of the Criterium Dud. But stay tuned to verses as the epic cycle presented by Mlobe Ultra continues. And up next, it's the second day of the tortois and the question, can [music] Fabian Canelora hold on to his yellow jersey as the Pelaton heads into the mountains? Find out next right here on Versus. Don't forget for a full schedule, you can log [music] on to our website at nbcports.com. And you can also follow us on Twitter and [music] BS Cycling and check us out on Facebook at our versus cycling page. Well done. >> [music]