2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 2
Kemp then tried to solo for the stage win, but Team Sky and Team HTC-Columbia chased him down, with race leader Greipel again coming away with a stage win. Minor controversy followed, as both Greg Henderson and Danilo Wyss accused other riders (namely Robbie McEwen and Graeme Brown) of poaching their leadouts and therefore causing them to lose finishing positions.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 3
This stage contained the Tour's most difficult climb to this point, Wickhams Hill Road, which came just before the 40 km (25 mi) mark. Afterward, the course remained at approximately the elevation reached after the climb, and undulated.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 3
The temperature topped out at over 40 °C (104 °F) on this day, which combined with the hilly terrain made the stage very difficult for some riders. A 40-rider group contested the final sprint finish, while half the peloton lost more than a minute and 13 riders lost more than ten minutes. The day's breakaway involved Simon Clarke of UniSA-Australia and Karsten Kroon from BMC Racing Team, who were joined at the 70 km (43 mi) mark by Maciej Paterski, Jens Voigt, and Jack Bobridge.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 3
Caisse d'Epargne was the team who worked the hardest to chase them down, thinning the leading group to try to protect Alejandro Valverde, José Joaquin Rojas, or Luis León Sánchez for a stage-winning attack. Portuguese national champion Manuel Cardoso from Footon–Servetto–Fuji broke out of the leading group within the final kilometer and took the stage win away from Valverde or Cadel Evans, who had seemed poised to contest a sprint with Valverde. After the stage, Valverde described holding Evans' wheel, and that a moment of hesitation when he was unsure if Evans was attacking for victory had cost him his chance of catching Cardoso. Cardoso's win was his first as a ProTour rider.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 4
This stage began with climbing and ended at lower elevation. The climb up Fox Creek Road, visited after 25 km (16 mi), reached over 500 m (1,600 ft) in elevation. After a long descent from that height 35 km (22 mi) later, the last 70 km (43 mi) were completely flat.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 4
Seven riders formed a breakaway group shortly after the true beginning of the stage. Among them were the top two men in the mountains classification, David Kemp and Thomas Rohregger, with Rohregger out-climbing Kemp to claim the white jersey at day's end. The group held a maximum advantage of 3'15", but the flat terrain and the strong crosswinds the group faced meant they stood no chance of staying away.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 4
Graeme Brown and Robbie McEwen started their sprints earlier than race leader André Greipel, but for the third time the big German was delivered safely first to the line by his leadout train. Greipel specifically mentioned new acquisition Matthew Goss as having been a key asset to him in the sprint.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 5
This was the Tour's most difficult stage, concluding with a two-lap circuit in Willunga that included two visits to the Old Willunga Hill Road, the hardest climb in the race due to its steepness. Adelaide's Sunday Mail newspaper stated that this was "the most exciting day in Tour [Down Under] history".


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 5
The stage was won by Caisse d'Epargne's Luis León Sánchez. After this grueling stage, André Greipel, with the help of his team, managed to keep both the ochre jersey and the blue jersey. The young Belgian rider Jurgen Roelandts from Omega Pharma–Lotto still holds the black jersey. In the mountains classification, Thomas Rohregger of Team Milram held an insurmountable lead with 56 points. Ag2r–La Mondiale is the leading team, 2 seconds ahead of Caisse d'Epargne.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 5
The principal breakaway of the day occurred on the second ascent of the Old Willunga Hill Road. It included two riders from Caisse d'Epargne in Alejandro Valverde and Luis León Sánchez, who had come to the race eager to earn victories. The other two riders were Peter Sagan from Liquigas–Doimo, who had figured into breakaways in previous stages and in the Cancer Council Helpline Classic earlier in the week, and Cadel Evans.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 5
With 4 km (2.5 mi) left to race, the four had a lead of 31 seconds, which potentially put Evans in position to take the race lead away from André Greipel. During the final few minutes of the stage, Greipel's teammates Hayden Roulston, Michael Rogers, and Matthew Goss pulled the peloton hard, so that they finished just 9 seconds behind stage winner Sánchez.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 5
While Team HTC–Columbia pulled, the strain of the breakaway and the final meters of the climb took its toll on the other three members of the leading group, who fell off as Sánchez soloed to the finish line. Greipel's lead was reduced to 11 seconds, but with only a very short flat stage remaining, it was likely to be secure.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 6
The Tour concluded with a criterium around the Adelaide City Council. The race was held on a closed road circuit 4.5 km (2.8 mi) in length.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 6
Robbie McEwen and Greg Henderson formed a breakaway early in the criterium which gave them, respectively, the two intermediate sprints the stage offered. The bonus seconds that came with them propelled them both past Luke Roberts, who began the day in third place overall. Henderson was two seconds better than McEwen, and thus made it to the podium.


2010 Tour Down Under, Tour stages, Stage 6
Later, Wesley Sulzberger, Trent Lowe, and Fabio Sabatini broke away to try for the stage win, riding the last five laps of the criterium ahead of the peloton, but Team Sky brought them back before the finish. As they had in the Cancer Council Helpline Classic earlier in the week, the new British team took the top two finishing positions in this stage, with Christopher Sutton ahead of Henderson this time. Though it was his worst performance in a sprint finish in this Tour, in fifth place, André Greipel still emerged as Tour champion.


2010 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership
In the 2010 Tour Down Under, six different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on each stage and in intermediate sprints, the leader received an ochre jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Tour Down Under, and the winner is considered the winner of the Tour.


2010 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership
Additionally, there was a sprint classification, which awarded a blue jersey. In the sprint classification, cyclists got points for finishing in the top three in a stage or intermediate sprint, with the top three finishers in the stage getting 8, 6, and 4 points respectively, and the top three in the intermediate sprints getting 6, 4, and 2.


2010 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership
There was also a mountains classification, which awards a white jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Unlike most other cycling events, there was no categorization of climbs - each awarded the same points (16, 12, 8, 6, and 4) to the first five riders past the summit.


2010 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership
The fourth jersey represented the young rider classification. This classification awards a black jersey.


2010 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership
Due to UCI rules limiting the number of jersey awards to four, the above were the only jerseys awarded to riders which were then worn the next day during the stage. But there were two other jerseys. The first was the red jersey for the most aggressive rider. This award is comparable to the combativity award of the Tour de France. While the rider received a red jersey on the podium after the stage, he wore his normal jersey (unless holding one of the above four) in the next stage, with the aggressive rider award indicated by a red bib number.


2010 Tour Down Under, Classification leadership
The sixth and final jersey was for the teams classification. This jersey was not presented on the podiums daily, but it was awarded to the winning team at the end of the Tour. The teams classification is calculated by adding the times of each team's best four riders per stage per day. The jersey is blue.


2010 Tour de France
The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race, one of cycling's Grand Tours. It started on 3 July with an 8.9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam, the first start in the Netherlands since 1996. The race visited three countries: the Netherlands, Belgium and France, and finished on 25 July on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.


2010 Tour de France
The total length was 3,642 kilometres (2,263 mi) including 60.9 kilometres (37.8 mi) in time-trials. Following an opening prologue time trial, the first three stages passed through the Netherlands and Belgium on routes designed to replicate some features of the spring classic cycle races. This included seven cobblestone sectors totaling 13.2 kilometres (8.2 mi), the longest distance of cobblestones in the Tour since 1983, on stage 3. There were six mountain stages, three of them with mountaintop finishes, and two medium mountain stages. In the 100th anniversary year of their first inclusion on the Tour, the emphasis was on the Pyrenees, with two ascents of the Col du Tourmalet.


2010 Tour de France
The Tour was initially won by Alberto Contador, who was later revealed to have failed a doping test. After a series of events, the CAS finally decided in February 2012 that Contador lost his results from 2010, declaring Andy Schleck the new winner. Schleck also won the young riders' competition for the third time running. France's Anthony Charteau won the polkadot jersey as the King of the Mountains whilst the Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi won the green jersey for victory in the points classification.


2010 Tour de France, Teams
Twenty-two teams with a total of nine riders accepted invitations to participate in the 2010 Tour de France. Sixteen of the teams were covered by a September 2008 agreement with the Union Cycliste Internationale, including two no longer part of the UCI ProTour. Six other teams, including the four ProTour teams not guaranteed a place, accepted their invitations.


2010 Tour de France, Pre-race favourites
Before the start of the race, Contador was the overall race favourite. Among the other favourites were Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, and Lance Armstrong. The US media, led by the US Tour broadcaster Versus, pitched the race as a showdown between Contador and Armstrong, both multi-tour champions going in. It has been since pointed out, however, that Armstrong's chances were perhaps exaggerated prior to the race; the two had already met that year in a two-day race in March at the Critérium International and Contador had finished four minutes ahead of Armstrong.


2010 Tour de France, Route and stages
The official Tour presentation was held on 14 October 2009. It was the third consecutive Grand Tour to begin in the Netherlands, as the 2009 Vuelta a España began in Assen, and the 2010 Giro d'Italia in Amsterdam. The race consisted of nine flat stages, six mountain stages (three summit finishes), four medium mountain stages, and two individual time trials, one of them being the opening prologue in Rotterdam. The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,115 m (6,939 ft) at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 17.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
The race started in Rotterdam with a 9 km prologue won by Fabian Cancellara. Sylvain Chavanel claimed the lead from Cancellara on Stage 2, after a massive crash which involved many riders, most notably Andy Schleck, a contender for overall victory, and Alessandro Petacchi. The riders in the peloton chose to wait for the fallen riders. However, on the cobbles of Stage 3, Cancellara retook the overall lead as Chavanel struggled.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
Fränk Schleck had to retire from the race, having sustained a collarbone fracture on a crash which delayed many of the riders in the peloton, including Contador and Armstrong who were hopeful of finishing high in the general classification. A number of their rivals, including Cancellara, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans and Thor Hushovd, were ahead of the crash and so were able to gain a time advantage. On the same stage, Tony Martin, who had been wearing the white jersey since the prologue, lost it to Geraint Thomas, and after winning the stage, Thor Hushovd took the lead in the points


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
On Stage 7 Chavanel again raced away from the field to take his second stage win and maillot jaune of the 2010 edition of the race, whilst Andy Schleck took the young riders' classification lead from Thomas. Evans took the yellow jersey from Chavanel the following day on Stage 8, and in turn lost the lead to Schleck on Stage 9 following a rest day.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
In Stage 11, Petacchi took the green jersey from Hushovd; Mark Cavendish won the stage, but his leadout rider, Mark Renshaw, was disqualified from the Tour after headbutting Julian Dean while leading out his teammate.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
On Stage 15 Schleck was race leader and pressing the pace over the day's final climb of Port de Bales when he threw his chain. Contador and Denis Menchov immediately moved to the front and attacked, pressing the advantage over the crest of the climb and all the way back down into Bagneres-de-Luchon. They were aided by Sammy Sanchez and two others making a group of five riders, all looking to gain time. Schleck chased hard, but had no other riders to help bridge the gap. By stage's end, he had lost the yellow jersey and 39 seconds to Contador. Contador, who now had an eight-second lead in the race, met with a mixed reception as he received the yellow jersey on the podium at the end of the stage.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
Contador said that he did not know that Schleck had technical trouble, and that he had already launched an attack by then, but review of the race shows that he was chasing an attack by Schleck, that he nearly struck Schleck as he moved past him, and that he looked back repeatedly on the climb while Schleck struggled to close down the gap. Hours later, he apologised for the incident.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
Although he was criticised by Sean Kelly and a number of riders both past and current, he also found support from the likes of Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx and Laurent Jalabert. Cervélo team owner Gerard Vroomen commented: "Contador just gained a great chance to win, but he lost the chance to win greatly." This same stage saw Anthony Charteau take the lead in the King of the Mountains competition from fellow Frenchman Jérôme Pineau.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
The 17th stage was considered this Tour's queen stage. The first-category Col de Marie-Blanque and Col du Soulor climbs preceded a grueling summit finish atop of the Hors Catégorie Col de Tourmalet, the second ascent of the Tourmalet of this year's Tour. The stage turned into a battle between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador. The tour's top two riders separated themselves from the field on the final climb. Schleck launched numerous attacks upon Contador in the final 15 kilometres, but was unable to separate from him.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
Contador coolly stayed on Schleck's wheel, and attacked as well once, but was pulled back by Schleck. Schleck went on to take the stage over Contador, who seemed happy to follow Schleck across the line while holding a seemingly unassailable lead in the GC. Meanwhile, Anthony Charteau confirmed his hold on the Polka-dot Jersey, as the Tour completed its final categorised climbs.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
Stage 19 was the final time trial. It was widely expected that Contador would increase his lead over Schleck, who in the past had struggled in this discipline, but the initial going surprised all as Schleck set a high pace that Contador had difficulty matching. By the first time check Schleck had picked up six seconds, cutting Contador's overall lead to just two seconds on the road. By the second time check Contador had recovered his losses and extended his lead over Schleck by six seconds.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
Over the final third of the course Contador extended his advantage, gaining an additional twenty-five seconds on his rival for an overall gain of thirty-one seconds for the stage. Fabian Cancellara, the Olympic and World Time Trial Champion, won the stage by seventeen seconds over runner-up Tony Martin. In addition Denis Menchov was able to overtake Samuel Sánchez for third place overall, while Ryder Hesjedal was able to move in front of Joaquim Rodríguez for the seventh place slot in the GC. Contador's first-place lead increased to 39 seconds, essentially guaranteeing him the victory.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview
The final stage was won by Cavendish, who became the first winner of consecutive Champs-Élysées stages. The Manx sprinter won five stages, more than any other rider in 2010 Tour, taking his career tally to 15 stage wins. Original tour winner Alberto Contador finished surrounded by his Astana teammates. This was his third Tour de France in three consecutive entries, after having won it in 2007 and 2009. Schleck finished in second place for the second year in a row (later to receive the victory after Contador's positive test and subsequent ban) and Menchov completed the podium in third place. Petacchi won the Green jersey. His second-place finish in the final stage gave him enough points to finish just above Cavendish and Hushovd. France's Charteau won the Polka dot jersey.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
In September 2010, Contador revealed that a urine sample he had given on 21 July, a rest day in the 2010 Tour de France, had contained traces of clenbuterol. He has stated, due to the number of other tests he passed and that only a tiny amount of the substance was detected in the one he failed, that food contamination was to blame. The UCI issued a statement reporting that the concentration was 50 picograms per millilitre, and that this was 1/40 the minimum standards of detection capability required by WADA, and that further scientific investigation would be required.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
In late January 2011, the Spanish Cycling Federation proposed a one-year ban, but it subsequently accepted Contador's appeal and cleared him of all charges. The UCI and the World Anti- Doping Agency each referred the decision independently to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in March 2011, but Contador remained free to ride until their ruling was made. The hearing was delayed until after the 2011 Tour de France at Contador's request and then deferred to November 2011. On 6 February 2012, the CAS stripped Contador of the 2010 title, making Andy Schleck the winner.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
Armstrong was stripped of all his professional results from August 1998 to August 2012, including his seven Tour titles on 22 October 2012. Armstrong's finish in the 2010 Tour—originally 23rd; 22nd at the time of its stripping—was also stripped. In January 2013, Armstrong admitted to doping in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Although he admitted to have doped in his seven wins, he denied doping in the 2009 and 2010 Tours. Regardless, Armstrong was stripped of his finishes in those two Tours as well, because his blood values indicated that he doped. USADA's report stated that "The likelihood of Armstrong’s blood values from the 2009 and 2010 Tours de France occurring naturally is less than one in a million".


2010 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
On 10 July 2014, a UCI press release detailing various athlete sanctions specified that Menchov had been banned (for a period of two years) until 9 April 2015 due to adverse biological passport findings. Due to this, he has been disqualified from the 2009, 2010 and 2012 Tours de France.


2010 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
In May 2011, newspaper l'Equipe published a list of cyclists and an index that indicated the suspicion for doping use.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2010 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was the general classification, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. There were no time bonuses given at the end of stages for this edition of the Tour. If a crash had happened within the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour. The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing in the highest positions in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type. The leader was identified by a green jersey.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The third classification was the mountains classification. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second- or first-category and hors catégorie, with the more difficult climbs rated lower. The leader wore a white jersey with red polka dots.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final individual classification was the young rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1985. The leader wore a white jersey.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final classification was a team classification. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time. The number of stage victories and placings per team determined the outcome of a tie. The riders in the team that lead this classification were identified with yellow number bibs on the back of their jerseys.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
In addition, there was a combativity award given after each stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the greatest effort and who has demonstrated the best qualities of sportsmanship". No combativity awards were given for the time trials and the final stage. The winner wore a red number bib the following stage. At the conclusion of the Tour, Sylvain Chavanel was given the overall super-combativity award.


2010 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given in honour of Tour founder and first race director Henri Desgrange, and the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given in honour of the second director Jacques Goddet, both to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Tourmalet on stages 17 and 16 respectively. Andy Schleck won the Henri Desgrange and Christophe Moreau won the Jacques Goddet.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10
The 2010 Tour de France begins on 3 July in Rotterdam in the Netherlands with a prologue time trial, and stage 10 occurs on 14 July, with a medium mountain stage in Gap.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Prologue
3 July 2010 — Rotterdam (Netherlands), 8.9 km (5.5 mi) (individual time trial)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Prologue
This time trial was short and nearly totally flat, with two very small rises in elevation (the first for the crossing of the Erasmus Bridge) occurring in the first half of the course. Tony Martin of Team HTC–Columbia led for most of the stage, being the eleventh person to complete the prologue. It was not until world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, the second-to-last rider of the day, took the course that Martin's time was bettered.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Prologue
Rain showers plagued the middle portion of the stage, but for the riders who started at the end the rain had stopped and the course was primarily dry. This was Cancellara's fourth win in a time trial to start the Tour de France in his career. Martin's efforts did not go unrewarded; he was awarded the white jersey for best young rider.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 1
4 July 2010 — Rotterdam (Netherlands) to Brussels (Belgium), 223.5 km (138.9 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 1
This stage is flat, winding through the islands of Zeeland before heading south into Belgium before the finish in the nation's capital. It was thought that the winds from the North Sea would cause some mayhem for this very flat stage, but this did not happen. Just 100 m (330 ft) after the peloton passed the stage's true beginning three riders broke away from the pack. Those riders were Lars Boom of Rabobank, Maarten Wijnants of Quick-Step, and Euskaltel–Euskadi's Alan Pérez. The trio stayed in front of the peloton for over 170 km (110 mi).


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 1
With about 30 km (19 mi) to go, Wijnants sprinted away from the other two breakaway members, who were quickly taken in by the charging peloton. Moldova road race champion Alexandre Pliuschin, representing Team Katusha, escaped from the peloton and joined Wijnants with about 25 km (16 mi) left in the stage. The two gained a maximum advantage of a minute over the peloton, and were caught with 8 km (5.0 mi) to go.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 1
As the peloton turned around a right hand bend, with under 3 km (1.9 mi) remaining, there was a small crash that took out two top sprinters, Mark Cavendish and Óscar Freire. Further crashes occurred in the stage's final kilometer, and riders high in the overall standings such as Lance Armstrong and Fabian Cancellara were caught up in them, along with many others. The few riders who were in front of the crash sprinted to the line, with Lampre–Farnese's Alessandro Petacchi claiming his first Tour de France stage win since 2003. Wijnants was named the most combative rider for Stage 1. All 158 riders who were together when the peloton passed through 3 km (1.9 mi) to go were given the same time regardless of when they actually finished.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 2
5 July 2010 — Brussels (Belgium) to Spa (Belgium), 201 km (125 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 2
There are six categorized climbs in this stage, three each in the third and fourth categories. The finish comes off the descent of the Rosier Pass, visited 12 km (7.5 mi) before the conclusion of the stage. Just 10 km (6.2 mi) after passing through kilometer zero, an eight man breakaway formed. The riders that made up the breakaway were Sylvain Chavanel and Jerome Pineau of Quick-Step, Matthew Lloyd and Jurgen Roelandts both from Omega Pharma–Lotto, BMC Racing Team's Marcus Burghardt, Sébastien Turgot of Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Rein Taaramae Cofidis, and Lampre–Farnese's Francesco Gavazzi.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 2
As the breakaway passed through the classification four mountains Jerome Pineau picked up enough climbing points to earn the polka dot jersey at the end of the stage, and the first polka jersey of the Tour. By the time the breakaway reached the Stockeu Sylvain Chavanel was by himself, having dropped Jurgen Roelandts who later got reabsorbed into the peloton. As the peloton caught Burghardt, Team HTC–Columbia's Maxime Monfort jumped off the front of the peloton. On the descent of the Stockeu several crashes occurred.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 2
Francesco Gavazzi, who was reabsorbed by the peloton, slipped and fell to the ground causing a crash that took down GC contender Andy Schleck, the points competition leader Alessandro Petacchi, and most of the peloton. The riders that came out of the wreckage unscathed went on with the stage, but began to wait for the other riders that were involved in the crash. Most of the peloton regrouped, but they didn't try to chase down Sylvain Chavanel. While approaching the finish line the peloton caught Monfort, the only remaining escapee other than Chavanel.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 2
Fabian Cancellara called for the peloton to not go for the sprint finish, out of fairness to those who had crashed and concern for the safety of the riders who might contest the sprint. As a result, no sprint points were awarded at the finish except to Chavanel, the stage winner, who was not involved in the slowdown. This was his second career Tour de France stage victory, and along with the stage win he became the overall leader and the leader of the points classification.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 3
6 July 2010 – Wanze (Belgium) to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut, 213 km (132 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 3
This is a difficult stage, incorporating 13 km (8.1 mi) of cobblestones in seven cobbled sectors over the last 77.5 km (48.2 mi). The race entered France for the first time midway through the cobbled sections, where Damiano Cunego, David Zabriske, and a few other riders were caught in a small pileup. 13 km (8.1 mi) into the stage, seven men jumped off the front of the peloton to form a breakaway.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 3
Steve Cummings of Team Sky, Ryder Hesjedal of Garmin–Transitions, Pavel Brutt of Team Katusha, Pierre Rolland of Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Team Milram's Roger Kluge, Stéphane Auge of Cofidis and Caisse d'Epargne's Imanol Erviti. The peloton and the breakaway passed over the first few sets of cobbles with no problem. Ryder Hesjedal soon jumped off the front of the breakaway, leaving the remaining to get picked up by the peloton. Then as Fabian Cancellara took the reins of the peloton and began to whip up the pace; a crash occurred. The crash took out most of the peloton, except for the few who were in front of Fränk Schleck. Fränk Schleck and a few other riders went to the ground, taking up the whole road. Later, Fränk Schleck would abandon the Tour with a broken collarbone.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 3
As Cancellara, Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, and Thor Hushovd sped away, the rest of the field was trying to pick their way around the pileup. This created some distance between the GC hopefuls, such as Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong. Initially Contador was knocked off of his bike. As the whole field made its way past the wreckage there were now two pelotons. Armstrong was initially in the first bunch of riders, but dropped off the back after needing a front wheel change.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 3
Contador fought back to the first main field, which was further up the road than the second peloton. Armstrong charged back, only to join the second peloton, and ultimately lost two minutes of time to the winners, and one minute to Contador. Ryder Hesjedal was caught by the chase group, led by Cancellara, with 6.7 km (4.2 mi) to go in the stage. The group made its way to the line where Thor Hushovd won the stage, also taking the lead in the points classification. Cancellara took the overall lead back from Sylvain Chavanel. Over a minute later Alexander Vinokourov led the second group over the line, with Contador coming in a few seconds later due to a flat tyre. Two minutes after Hushovd crossed the line, the group containing Armstrong crossed the line.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 4
7 July 2010 — Cambrai to Reims, 153.5 km (95.4 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 4
This stage is short and mostly flat, undulating gently for its duration and incorporating one fourth-category climb. The stage got off to a normal start, with a five man group jumping off the front of the peloton to form a breakaway. Those five riders were Dimitri Champion of Ag2r–La Mondiale, Iban Mayoz of Footon–Servetto–Fuji, Nicolas Vogondy of Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Francis De Greef of Omega Pharma–Lotto and Euskaltel–Euskadi's Iñaki Isasi. The peloton would not let the breakaway gain more than three minutes advantage on them, but they stayed out in front until the final kilometres.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 4
The breakaway dropped De Greef with just under 6 km (3.7 mi) remaining in the stage. As the sprinters teams were gearing up for the sprint finish, they absorbed the remaining breakaway members. As the sprinters came to the line Alessandro Petacchi jumped off of Thor Hushovd's back wheel and sprinted to the line for the stage win.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 5
8 July 2010 — Épernay to Montargis, 187.5 km (116.5 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 5
This is another flat stage, with two fourth-category climbs occurring early on. Stage 5 got off to a normal start, 6 km into the stage the riders broke away from the peloton. Jurgen Van De Walle of Quick-Step, José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios of Caisse d'Epargne, and Cofidis's Julien El Fares made up the three man breakaway. The breakaway gained a maximum advantage of eight minutes before being pulled back in by the peloton. As the final kilometers were approaching, Van De Walle and El Fares were caught by the peloton.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 5
Gutierrez remained out in front for only a little while longer, until being caught. Then the sprinters teams fought for position. As the teams came down to the final stretch; Mark Renshaw lead out Mark Cavendish for the stage win. This was Cavendish's eleventh Tour de France stage win of his career.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 6
9 July 2010 — Montargis to Gueugnon, 227.5 km (141.4 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 6
This stage is also classified flat, though it contains a bit more climbing than the previous stages. There are four fourth-category climbs on the course, and other less steep uncategorized rises. Just 3 km after passing through kilometer zero a three man breakaway formed. Those three riders were Mathieu Perget of Caisse d'Epargne, Sebastian Lang of Omega Pharma–Lotto and Euskaltel–Euskadi's Rubén Pérez. The breakaway would gain a maximum advantage of eight minutes on the day. As the stage went on the gap slowly went down and the sprinters teams started preparing for a sprint finish.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 6
With 20 km to go in the stage Dimitri Champion of Ag2r–La Mondiale and Anthony Charteau of Bbox Bouygues Telecom broke away from the peloton and joined the breakaway. The two riders would help stretch out the gap between the breakaway and the peloton, but not for long. The sprinters teams reeled in the breakaway just after passing under the 10 km to go banner. Then the sprinters and their lead out trains came to the front for the sprint finish. Mark Renshaw led out Mark Cavendish for his second consecutive stage win. Carlos Barredo and Rui Costa came to blows after the stage.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 7
10 July 2010 — Tournus to Station des Rousses, 165.5 km (102.8 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 7
The Tour's first stage in the mountains has six climbs in the Jura, three in the second category, two in the third, and one in the fourth. The two most difficult climbs are the last two, the Col de la Croix de la Serra and the Lamoura, both second-category climbs reaching over 1,000 m (3,300 ft) in elevation. 4 km (2.5 mi) of flat racing follow the Lamoura climb before the stage finish. After numerous failed attempts at forming a breakaway; a five man breakaway formed 2 km into the stage.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 7
The breakaway was composed of Danilo Hondo of Lampre–Farnese, Samuel Dumoulin of Cofidis, Rubén Pérez of Euskaltel–Euskadi, Christian Knees of Team Milram, and King of the Mountains classification leader Jérôme Pineau of Quick-Step. Hondo crossed the first three intermediate sprints of the stage first. Sylvain Chavanel crossed the fourth and final intermediate sprint of the stage first. Pineau crossed the first five classified mountains first, increasing his lead in the King of the Mountains classification.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 7
On the ascent of the second to last climb of the day, the Col de la Croix de la Serra, everyone started attacking and other riders started to fall off the back of the peloton at an alarming rate. When the peloton reached the penultimate climb a large group of riders jumped off the front of the peloton to chase after Pineau and the slowing Hondo. When the breakaway reached the final mountain the breakaway only contained two riders, Pineau and Hondo. On the final climb Pineau had climbed away from Hondo; who was beginning to crack.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 7
Sylvain Chavanel was a member of the chase group that broke away from the peloton on the Col de la Croix de la Serra. Chavanel attacked and started gaining ground fast, he quickly caught Hondo and then his own teammate Pineau. Chavanel would go on by himself to claim the stage win, his second of this year's Tour, and the maillot jaune. Pineau won the most combative rider of Stage 7.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 8
11 July 2010 — Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz, 189 km (117 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 8
Stage 8 was the Tour's first taste of the Alps. Starting at the previous day's concluding town of  Station des Rousses, the stage incorporated two Category 1 climbs: the Col de la Ramaz which crested with 35 km (22 mi) left to race and the summit finish at Morzine-Avoriaz. As the stage wore on, groups began form off the back of the peloton. Team Sky set a blistering pace on the ascent of the Les Gets, this caused a group of elite riders to form a trailing group.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 8
Soon Lance Armstrong, after crashing twice in the stage, dropped off the back of the peloton. Once word reached Astana they took control of the lead elite group, whipping up the pace. This group contained Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, and about 30 others. Once the group reached the flamme rouge, attacks began, aiming at the stage win. Andy Schleck attacked, with Samuel Sánchez trailing him. Schleck out-sprinted  Sánchez at the finish for his first Tour stage win. Cadel Evans took the yellow jersey gaining from Sylvain Chavanel.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 9
13 July 2010 — Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, 204.5 km (127.1 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 9
After the first rest day, at Morzine-Avoriaz, the next Alpine stage contains one of this Tour's hardest climbs, the hors catégorie Col de la Madeleine. The Col de la Colombière and the Col des Saisies, both first-category, are visited earlier in the stage, and the finish line comes after the descent from the Madeleine and a short flat section.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 10
14 July 2010 — Chambéry to Gap, 179 km (111 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 10
The Bastille Day stage gives a last taste of the Alps for the 2010 Tour. There are three categorized climbs on course, starting with first-category Côte de Laffrey, and finishing with the second-category Col du Noyer; the tallest of them all. The finish into Gap is on a descent, from the Noyer and then from an uncategorized hill. Numerous breakaways tried to form, but none were successful at the beginning of the stage. 36 km into the stage a breakaway finally got clear of the peloton.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 10
The break contained Mario Aerts of Omega Pharma–Lotto, Dries Devenyns of Quick-Step, Vasil Kiryienka of Caisse d'Epargne, and Team RadioShack's Sérgio Paulinho. The breakaway was later joined by two Frenchmen, Maxime Bouet of Ag2r–La Mondiale and Pierre Rolland of Bbox Bouygues Telecom. No one in the breakaway was seen as a threat to Andy Schleck, the new wearer of the maillot jaune. The closest rider to him in the break was thirty minutes behind at the start of the stage.


2010 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10, Stage 10
The peloton did not really make an effort to catch the breakaway, letting the breakaway's advantage rise to the twelve-minute mark for most of the stage. As the breakaway passed under the 10 km to go banner, the breakaway members began to attack. The first attack was by Devenyns, but he was soon passed. Paulinho sprinted in front of Devenyns, and Kiryienka followed closely behind. The two would gain a minutes advantage over the other riders that were in the chase group. As the finish approached Paulinho sprinted from behind Kiryienka to grab the stage win. Jerome Pineau reclaimed the lead in the King of the Mountains Classification by one point.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20
Stage 11 of the 2010 Tour de France occurs on 15 July in Sisteron, and the race concludes on 25 July with its traditional Champs-Élysées stage.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 11
15 July 2010 — Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence, 184.5 km (114.6 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 11
This is classified as a flat stage, visiting the third-category Col de la Cabre after 56.5 km (35.1 mi) and then descending most of the way to the finish. The stage got off to a normal start with a three man breakaway forming just after passing through kilometer zero. The three riders were Stéphane Augé of Cofidis, Anthony Geslin of Française des Jeux, and Footon–Servetto–Fuji's José Alberto Benítez. The breakaway would stay out in front for the majority of the stage, but they were absorbed by the peloton with 25 km (15.5 mi) to go.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 11
Now it was time for the sprinters, but Team Saxo Bank took control of the peloton and pushed the tempo up to 62 km/h. Then the sprinters' teams came to the front and started the dash to the line. Mark Renshaw led out Mark Cavendish for the thirteenth Tour de France stage win of his career. In a controversial decision Renshaw was disqualified and forced to abandon the Tour for head butting Julian Dean during the sprint and for moving into Tyler Farrar's line.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 12
16 July 2010 — Bourg-de-Péage to Mende, 210.5 km (130.8 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 12
This stage is hilly, with two second-category and three third-category climbs. The Col de la Croix Neuve comes 2 km (1.2 mi) from the finish, followed by a brief flat section. The peloton remained intact up until the second categorized climb of the day, before a group of eighteen riders dashed away from the peloton. Some major riders were Thor Hushovd of Cervélo TestTeam, Andreas Klöden of Team RadioShack, and Alexander Vinokourov of Astana. Hushovd regained the lead in the points classification after winning the second intermediate sprint of the day.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 12
With about 48 km to go in the stage Klöden, Vinokourov, Garmin–Transitions's Ryder Hesjedal, and Vasil Kiryienka of Caisse d'Epargne jumped off the front of the breakaway. The group would stay intact until the final climb of the day where Vinokourov would attack on the climb. While on the climb Alberto Contador attacked, which caught Andy Schleck off guard. Joaquim Rodríguez followed Contador, who quickly caught up to the leading Vinokourov. Contador and Rodriguez would go to the finish together, with Rodriguez outsprinting Contador for the stage win. Contador gained ten seconds on Schleck.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 13
17 July 2010 — Rodez to Revel, 196 km (122 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 13
This is classified as a flat stage, though it incorporates five climbs, two in the third category and three in the fourth.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 14
18 July 2010 — Revel to Ax 3 Domaines, 184.5 km (114.6 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 14
The first of several difficult stages in the Pyrenees in the Tour's last week visits the French Basque Country. The hors catégorie Port de Pailhères precedes the first-category summit finish at Ax-3-Domaines.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 15
19 July 2010 — Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon, 187.5 km (116.5 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 15
This stage also includes an hors catégorie climb, Port de Balès. The finish comes on a steep, 21 km (13 mi) descent from the climb.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 15
In Stage 15, controversy arose when Alberto Contador took advantage of a mechanical problem that Andy Schleck had at a pivotal moment to take the yellow jersey, as it is considered good sportsmanship to wait for the yellow jersey when he has technical trouble. Contador explained that he did not know that Schleck had technical trouble, and that he had already launched an attack by then. Hours later, he apologised for the incident.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 15
Although he was loudly booed by sections of the crowd when he received the yellow jersey on the podium and was criticised by Sean Kelly and a number of riders both past and current, he also found support from the likes of Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx and Laurent Jalabert. Schleck himself said that he and Contador discussed the matter during the next stage and that the matter has been resolved.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 16
20 July 2010 — Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau, 199.5 km (124.0 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 16
This stage has four difficult climbs, starting with the first-category Col de Peyresourde and Col d'Aspin within the first 42.5 km (26.4 mi). The next climb is the Col du Tourmalet, the first of two times the climb is visited in this Tour, and later comes the Col d'Aubisque. Both the Tourmalet and the Aubisque are hors catégorie climbs.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 17
22 July 2010 — Pau to Col du Tourmalet, 174 km (108 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 17
The Tour's second rest day occurs in Pau, meaning the Tour will have been in the same town for three straight days. This has been called the Tour's queen stage, and features the second ascent of the Tourmalet, coming as a steep summit finish. The first-category Col de Marie-Blanque and Col du Soulor climbs precede it. Anthony Charteau provisionally sealed the Polka-dot Jersey, as neither he nor Christophe Moreau accumulated any points during this stage, which featured the final categorized climbs of this year's Tour. The stage itself turned into a thrilling battle between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 17
With Schleck needing to make up lost time on Contador, he launched numerous attacks in the final 15 kilometres. However, surrounded by his fans, Contador fought to stay on the wheel of Schleck. Late on, Contador attacked himself but was pulled back. Schleck went on to take the stage, but Contador, who was happy to follow Schleck and did not sprint, had a seemingly unassailable lead.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 18
23 July 2010 — Salies-de-Béarn to Bordeaux, 198 km (123 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 19
24 July 2010 — Bordeaux to Pauillac, 52 km (32 mi) (individual time trial)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 19
The race returns to its tradition of having a time trial on its penultimate day. The course is long, straight, and flat. Race officials expect the average time to complete the course will be 64 minutes. Fabian Cancellara took his second victory of the tour, whilst Tony Martin finished second. The battle between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck for the yellow jersey also reached its climax. With Contador being the more accomplished Time-Trialist, he was expected to increase his lead. However, at the first time check, Schleck had taken time out of him and the lead was down to two seconds. However, from there on in, Contador began to open a gap, and ended picking time up 31 seconds on Schleck, meaning his Yellow Jersey was now safe.


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 20
25 July 2010 — Longjumeau to Paris, 102.5 km (63.7 mi)


2010 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20, Stage 20
The Tour concluded with its traditional, largely ceremonial finale on the Champs-Élysées. The riders take eight laps of the famous avenue before the final podium presentations. Mark Cavendish sprinted clear in the final 300 yards, with Alessandro Petacchi riding into second and Julian Dean third


2010 Tour de Langkawi
The 2010 Tour de Langkawi was the 15th edition of the Tour de Langkawi, a cycling stage race that took place in Malaysia. The race began on 1 March in Kota Bharu and ended on 7 March in Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur. The race was sanctioned by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as a 2.HC (hors category) race on the 2009–10 UCI Asia Tour calendar.


2010 Tour de Langkawi
José Rujano of Venezuela became the overall winner of the race, followed by Gong Hyo-Suk of South Korea second and Hossein Askari of Iran third. Anuar Manan representing Geumsan Ginseng Asia made history when he became the first Malaysian cyclist to win a stage, which he won the Stage 5. Manan also became the first Malaysian cyclist to win the points classification. Peter McDonald won the mountains classification category. Tabriz Petrochemical Team was the leader of team classification of the race.


2010 Tour de Langkawi, Teams
20 teams accepted invitations to participate in the 2010 Tour de Langkawi.


2010 Tour de Langkawi, Stages
The cyclists competed in 7 stages, covering a distance of 1,013.9 kilometres.


2010 Tour de Langkawi, Stage 1 to Stage 7
The 2010 Tour de Langkawi was the 15th edition of the Tour de Langkawi, a cycling stage race that takes place in Malaysia. It began on 1 March in Kota Bharu and ended on 7 March in Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur. The race comprises 7 stages, covering 1013.9 kilometres.


2010 Tour de Pologne
The 2010 Tour de Pologne was the 67th running of the Tour de Pologne, in the 82nd year since the first edition. The event was part of both the 2010 UCI ProTour and the World Calendar. It ran from 1 to 7 August and commenced in Sochaczew and finished in Kraków.


2010 Tour de Pologne, Teams
Twenty three teams have been invited to the 2010 Tour de Pologne.


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages
Aside from entering the Czech Republic (to the city of Český Těšín on the border with Poland) during the fourth stage, the race stages started and ended in Polish locations.


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 1
1 August 2010 – Sochaczew to Warsaw, 175.1 km (108.8 mi)


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 2
2 August 2010 – Rawa Mazowiecka to Dąbrowa Górnicza, 240 km (149.1 mi)


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 3
3 August 2010 – Sosnowiec to Katowice, 122.1 km (75.9 mi)


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 4
4 August 2010 – Tychy to Cieszyn, 177.9 km (110.5 mi)


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 5
5 August 2010 – Jastrzębie-Zdrój to Ustroń, 149 km (92.6 mi)


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 6
6 August 2010 – Oświęcim to Bukowina Tatrzańska, 228.5 km (142.0 mi)


2010 Tour de Pologne, Stages, Stage 7
7 August 2010 – Nowy Targ to Kraków, 163.9 km (101.8 mi)


2010 Tour de Romandie
The 2010 Tour de Romandie (64th Edition) cycling road race started on 27 April and finished on 2 May in Switzerland. It was the 6th event in the 2010 UCI ProTour, and the 13th event in the World Calendar. The race winner had been declared as Alejandro Valverde, who won the final stage to take the race by 11 seconds.


2010 Tour de Romandie
However, some four weeks after the end of the race the UCI placed Valverde under a two-year suspension for his involvement in the 2006 Operación Puerto doping case, which was backdated to, and involved removal of all his results since, 1 January 2010. Simon Špilak was thus promoted to winner of the event.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Pre-Race Favourites
2010 pre-race favourites included 2009 champion, Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas–Doimo as well as teammate Ivan Basso. Denis Menchov of Russia is also a favourite.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Pre-Race Favourites
While not a favourite to win overall, local Alexandre Moos has a lot going for him as this will be his 12th and final Tour de Romandie.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Teams
There are 20 teams for the 2010 Tour de Romandie. They are:


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Prologue
This short course took in the beautiful, historic village of Porrentruy. Classics fans were pleased to hear there is a 400 metres cobbled section.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
A hilly stage in the Jura mountains north of Lake Neuchatel. Two category 1 climbs and a category 2 – and a few other bumps along the way. Although the last 10 km are downhill, the course may be well suited to a break-away.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
Peter Sagan – the up-and-coming young cyclist claimed the victory in the sprint. It was his third victory of the season. The win put him in first place overall as he was just 0.92 seconds behind the previous leader, Marco Pinotti. Sagan was pleased with the win, but pledged his loyalty to Liquigas–Doimo team leader Roman Kreuziger. According to , Sagan said,


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
Our team leader is Roman Kreuziger and I don't know what I can do. I'm not a good climber like he is. We'll see. There are three hard stages and a time trial to come


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 1
Sprinter Mark Cavendish could not hang in the mountains and was dropped from the peloton with 45 km to go. Had he not, a victory would have helped teammate Marco Pinotti remain in the leaders jersey.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 2
This stage looks to be for the sprinters. The course will pass through Fribourg twice before a flat finish. Although two category one climbs are listed they are tiny. The course will climb twice the locally famous and steep cobbled climb "Lorette." Anyone hoping to foil the sprinters will need to attack here.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 3
It's a short time trial but the first 7 kilometres are uphill at around 4%.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 4
For the first time in more than 40 years, Romandie will have a stage finish in France. Starting in Vevey (Switzerland), the route will pass UCI headquarters in Aigle before turning up into the French Alps climbing the Categorie 1 "Pas de Morgins."


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 4
The top of the climb is the Swiss / French border. The final climb – the Categorie 1 Col du Corbier – is 6 km at roughly 8% – not easy. And while the summit is 20+ km from the finish, the last 17 kilometres are a gradual uphill.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 4
Before this stage Mark Cavendish winner of stage 2, was withdrawn by his team for his two fingered celebration after victory.


2010 Tour de Romandie, Stages, Stage 5
The "Queen" stage. It's very short, but has three very difficult climbs.


2010 Tour de San Luis
The  2010 Tour de San Luis was a men's road cycling race held from 18 to January 24, 2010, in Argentina. The fourth edition of this road racing event was a multiple stage race with seven stages and a total length of 1018.4 kilometres.


2010 Tour de Suisse
The 2010 Tour de Suisse was the 74th edition of the Tour de Suisse stage race. It took place from 12 June to 20 June and was part of both the 2010 UCI ProTour and the World Calendar. It began with a short individual time trial in Lugano and ended with another time trial, in Liestal. The race was won by Fränk Schleck.


2010 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
12 June 2010 – Lugano, 7.6 km (Individual time trial)


2010 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
17 June 2010 – Meiringen to La Punt, 213.3 km


2010 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
20 June 2010 – Liestal, 26.9 km (Individual time trial)


2010 Tour de Wallonie
The 2010 Tour de Wallonie was the 37th edition of the Tour de Wallonie cycle race and was held on 24–28 July 2010. The race started in Mouscron and finished in Welkenraedt. The race was won by Russell Downing.


2010 Tour de las Américas
The 2010 Tour de las Américas season consisted of 16 golf tournaments, hosted in seven countries across Latin America. Five events were played in Argentina, four in Colombia, three in Chile and one in Mexico, Peru, Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.


2010 Tour de las Américas
The Tour de las Américas continued its close association with the PGA European Tour, with one event, the Abierto Internacional de Golf Copa Antioquia being co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour, Europe's official development tour.


2010 Tour de las Américas
The Order of Merit was won by Argentina's Julián Etulain.


2010 Tour de las Américas, Tournament results
Below is the schedule for the 2010 Tour de las Americas season.


2010 Tour du Haut Var
The 2010 Tour du Haut Var was the 42nd edition of the Tour du Haut Var cycle race and was held on 20–21 February 2010. The race started in La Croix-Valmer and finished in Montauroux. The race was won by Christophe Le Mével.


2010 Tour of Azerbaijan (Iran)
Tour of Azerbaijan 2010 was the 25th running of the Tour of Iran (Azerbaijan), which took place between 3 May 3 and 8 May 2010 in Iranian Azerbaijan and in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhichivan. The tour had 6 stages in which Ghader Mizbani from Iran won the first place in overall classification of the tour.


2010 Tour of Britain
The 2010 Tour of Britain was a UCI 2.1 category race of eight stages that was held from 11 to 18 September 2010. The race was the seventh edition of the latest version of the Tour of Britain and the 71st British tour in total. It formed part of the 2009–2010 UCI Europe Tour. The race began in Rochdale and ended with a circuit stage in London. The Tour was won by a HTC–Highroad rider for the second successive year, as Switzerland's Michael Albasini won the race by over a minute.


2010 Tour of Britain, Stages, Stage 8
The final stage of the 2010 edition was a circuit race in Newham, London. It was originally intended that the final stage would be in the centre of London but, due to the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to London, the organisers were forced to find an alternative location.


2010 Tour of California
The 2010 Tour of California was the fifth running of the Tour of California cycling stage race. It was held from May 16–23, and was the first edition of the race held in the month of May, after the first four occurred in February. It was rated as a 2.HC event on the UCI America Tour. It began in Nevada City and concluded in the Agoura Hills.


2010 Tour of California
The event's move to later in the year has made it so the route was different from previous editions of the race, and also provided for a different makeup of ridership, as it conflicted with the 2010 Giro d'Italia.


2010 Tour of California
The race was won by Team HTC–Columbia rider Michael Rogers, who held off Garmin–Transitions' David Zabriskie and Levi Leipheimer of Team RadioShack. In other classifications, Liquigas–Doimo's Peter Sagan won both the points and young rider classifications, Thomas Rabou of Team Type 1 won the mountains classification and Garmin-Transitions won the teams classification.


2010 Tour of California, Participating teams
Sixteen teams participated in the Tour of California. These included seven UCI ProTour teams, two UCI Professional Continental teams, and seven UCI Continental teams. They were:


2010 Tour of California, Participating teams
Team RadioShack's Levi Leipheimer returned, to try for a fourth consecutive overall victory. Leipheimer's teammate Lance Armstrong has also committed to the race, as has George Hincapie, riding in 2010 for BMC Racing Team. Garmin–Transitions rider David Zabriskie, second-place finisher in 2006 and 2009, has also been announced for the race.


2010 Tour of California, Changes from 2009
The 2010 Tour was the first to take place in May rather than February. This has allowed race organizers to move the race inland from the coastal route it used in its four editions. This eliminated Solvang, which had hosted an individual time trial in each of the last three editions of the race, from the route, along with other past cities. Moving to May allowed the race to visit some taller, more difficult climbs further inland, which were too cold to visit in February.


2010 Tour of California, Changes from 2009
Andrew Messick, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group (the organizers of the race), has said that the route for the 2010 Tour will be more difficult than it was in 2009, and that the May time position also moves them from cycling's "pre-season" and gives a better chance to showcase the race, as it now takes place at a time when more riders should be at or near peak form. Race officials also hoped to make the event a preparatory one for the Tour de France.


2010 Tour of California, Changes from 2009
The race was held at the same time of year as the Giro d'Italia. Messick has admitted that this will probably result in fewer Italians starting this race, and fewer Americans in the Giro. However, the consensus among race organizers was that few riders who seek a high position in the Tour de France also ride the Giro d'Italia, so the possible loss of riders such as Carlos Sastre and Mark Cavendish (who rode the Tour of California, the Giro d'Italia, and the Tour de France in 2009) was not seen as a major risk.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages
The 2010 Tour was held over eight days, down from nine in 2009. This change is due to the current economic state after the recession of the last several years. The prologue has been eliminated.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 1
May 16, 2010 — Nevada City to Sacramento, 104.3 miles (167.9 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 1
While past editions of the Tour of California began with a prologue time trial, the first stage in 2010 was a road race from Nevada City to the state capital Sacramento. The course consisted of a lot of descending, starting at 2,500 feet (760 m) and ending near sea level with three laps of a circuit in Sacramento, and a mass sprint finish the expectation.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 1
A four-rider breakaway took the intermediate sprints and the one small climb on the course. The riders in the break were Maarten Tjallingii, Marc de Maar, Paul Mach, and Chad Beyer. A chase group, with a rider each from Jelly Belly–Kenda, Team Type 1, and Fly V Australia was between the leaders and the peloton for several miles of racing, but were unable to make the bridge. They attained a maximum advantage of close to six minutes, but Team HTC–Columbia at the head of the peloton did not let them stay away.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 1
The catch occurred shortly before the circuits in Sacramento began. Team HTC-Columbia continued to control the race during the circuits in preparation for Mark Cavendish's sprint, except for a brief moment when Team Saxo Bank appeared at the head of the peloton to try to set up Juan José Haedo. Crashes depleted the leading group and reduced the number of sprinters present to try for the stage win, though all riders were given the same time as stage winner Cavendish since the crashes took place very close to the finish line on a flat stage. Time bonuses won during the stage meant the first general classification was not the same as the results of stage one.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 2
May 17, 2010 — Davis to Santa Rosa, 109.5 miles (176.2 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 2
This stage was mostly flat, using most of the same course from stage 1 of the 2009 race. A notable diversion from that course, however, occurred around 20 miles (32 km) from the finish line in Santa Rosa, with the climb of Trinity Road.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 2
The stage was slowed by rainy conditions. An early breakaway including Karl Menzies (UnitedHealthcare–Maxxis) and Thomas Rabou (Team Type 1) was caught. A group of twenty riders made a dash for the finish, with the win and the leader's jersey going to Brett Lancaster. For his efforts in the breakaway, Rabou gained the climber's jersey and the most-aggressive rider title.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 3
May 18, 2010 — San Francisco to Santa Cruz, 113.6 miles (182.8 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 3
This course included the Tour's first major climb, of Bonny Doon road, 12 miles (19 km) from the finish. It was on this climb in the 2009 race that Leipheimer first took the lead that was eventually his overall margin of victory. At Bonny Doon, Levi Leipheimer, David Zabriskie, and Michael Rogers charged ahead. The peloton gave chase, but failed to make the catch, ending up 17 seconds behind. At the line it was Zabriskie who edged out the other two, to gain the time bonus and overall lead.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 4
May 19, 2010 — San José to Modesto, 121.5 miles (195.5 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 4
This was a flat stage, and used the same course as Stage 3 from 2009. At the 6 miles (9.7 km) mark, the peloton faced a difficult, technical climb up Sierra Road, but after descending it there were no further difficulties in the route. A mass sprint finish was expected, with the potential for high winds, common in the San Joaquin Valley, to make it so general classification contenders have to work hard to stay with the leading group.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 5
May 20, 2010 — Visalia to Bakersfield, 121.5 miles (195.5 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 5
After a lengthy transfer, two new towns were visited in Stage 5. This was categorized as a flat stage, though a climb with a 14% gradient occurs early in the stage and the finish in Bakersfield included three visits to a climb that tops out over 10% in grade. However, Lance Armstrong crashed just outside Visalia in Stage 5 and had to withdraw from the Tour of California.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 6
May 21, 2010 — Palmdale to Big Bear Lake, 135 miles (217 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 6
This has already been declared the queen stage of the 2010 Tour, and may be the most difficult stage in the Tour's five-year history. It was the first Tour of California stage ever to conclude with a mountain climb. The climb to Big Bear Lake reached 6,752 ft (2,058 m) in elevation. This stage was originally scheduled to begin at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, but the roads on which the course would have traveled were damaged by heavy snowfall at high elevations in 2010, making them unsafe to use.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 6
The stage began just north of the Angeles National Forest at Palmdale City Hall and visited the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, incorporating 2,000 ft (610 m) more climbing than the original course from Pasadena. From there, the race headed south along the Angeles Forest Highway before cutting across the Upper Big Tujunga Canyon to travel on the undamaged part of the course as previously designed.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 7
May 22, 2010 — Los Angeles 20 mi (32 km) (individual time trial)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 7
The one race against the clock for the 2010 Tour took place in Los Angeles, on a longer course than was used in Solvang in the previous three editions of the race. It ran twenty miles over two laps in downtown Los Angeles. The course passed such landmarks as the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, and Los Angeles City Hall, finishing at Chick Hearn Court at L.A. Live. It was expected that the riders complete the course in anywhere from 41 to 48 minutes. The first 90 riders to take the course were staggered one minute at a time, and the final 30 spaced out with two minutes separating their departures.


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 8
May 23, 2010 — Thousand Oaks circuit race, 83.5 miles (134.4 km)


2010 Tour of California, Tour stages, Stage 8
The Tour concluded with a hilly circuit race in Thousand Oaks, with a steep climb up Mulholland Highway before finishing in Westlake. The circuit course was 21 miles (34 km) long, and it was covered four times. It reaches a height of 2,000 feet (610 m).


2010 Tour of California, Classification leadership
In the 2010 Tour of California, five different jerseys were awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding the finishing times of the stages per cyclist, the leader received a yellow jersey. This classification was considered the most important of the Tour of California, and the winner of the general classification was considered the winner of the Tour of California.


2010 Tour of California, Classification leadership
Additionally, there was also a sprints classification, akin to what is called the points classification in other races, which awarded a green jersey. In the sprints classification, cyclists received points for finishing in the top 10 in a stage. The winner got 15 points, second place 12, third 10, fourth 7, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for tenth. In addition, some points could be won in intermediate sprints.


2010 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a mountains classification, which awarded a red jersey. In the mountains classifications, points were won by reaching the top of a mountain before other cyclists. Each climb was categorized, either first, second, third, or fourth category, with more points available for the harder climbs.


2010 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a youth classification. This classification was calculated the same way as the general classification, but only young cyclists (under 23) were in. The leader of the young rider classification received a white jersey.


2010 Tour of California, Classification leadership
The fifth jersey was not awarded on the basis of a time or points-based classification. It was for each stage's "Most Courageous" rider, akin to the combativity award in the Tour de France. The rider who received this award as given a blue jersey on the podium, and wore a red bib number in the next stage. Unlike the Tour de France's combativity award, there was no overall award given.


2010 Tour of California, Classification leadership
There was also a classification for teams. In this classification, the times of the best three cyclists per stage were added, and the team with the lowest time was leader.


2010 Tour of Chongming Island Stage race
The 2010 Tour of Chongming Island Stage race was the fourth women's edition of the Tour of Chongming Island cycling stage race. It was rated by the UCI as category 2.1, and was held between 5 and 7 May 2010, in China.


2010 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
The 2010 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup was the first road race world cup running on the Tour of Chongming Island. It was held on 9 May 2010 over a distance of 138.6 kilometres (86.1 miles) and was the fifth race of the 2010 UCI Women's Road World Cup season. The race started and finished in Chengqiao, China. 98 elite female cyclists took part in the race and 80 of them finished.


2010 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
HTC-Columbia's Ina-Yoko Teutenberg lived-up to pre-race expectation as she capped a successful week in China. The German national champion finished fastest in a sprint finish, which saw Kirsten Wild (Cervelo TestTeam) finish second and Rochelle Gilmore (Australia) third.


2010 Tour of Chongming Island World Cup
In addition to strong crosswinds, the peloton faced torrential rain throughout the 138 kilometre race. Despite the conditions, a 20-rider group was able to break free of the peloton halfway through the event. HTC-Columbia's strong representation with 6 riders in the group meant the onus was placed on other teams to chase. Cervelo were able to shut down the impromptu escape 150 metres from the finish. Despite the German team's effort, Teutenberg was able to come around at the last minute to take the sprint from Wild and Gilmore. The lead-out for Teutenberg, Ellen van Dijk also had with her sixth place a top-10 finish.


2010 Tour of Flanders
The 2010 Tour of Flanders cycle race was the 94th edition of this monument classic and took place on 4 April. The course was 262.3 km long, starting in Bruges and finishing in Ninove. The race was won by Fabian Cancellara ahead of Tom Boonen and Philippe Gilbert.


2010 Tour of Flanders, Teams
There were 25 teams for the 2010 Tour of Flanders. They were:


2010 Tour of Flanders for Women
The seventh edition of the Tour of Flanders for Women cycling race was held on 4 April 2010. The race started in Oudenaarde and finished in Meerbeke. It was the second leg of the 2010 UCI Women's Road World Cup. The event was won by Belgian rider Grace Verbeke.


2010 Tour of Flanders for Women, Race summary
Dutchwoman Adrie Visser and Belgian Grace Verbeke broke away on the Molenberg, the third climb of the day after 75 km, and continued to work together until the Bosberg. On the Bosberg, the last climb of the day, Verbeke left Visser behind and soloed to Meerbeke to narrowly stay ahead of the sprinting group. Marianne Vos won the sprint for second place before Kirsten Wild. Visser, caught by the returning group, finished fifth.


2010 Tour of Hainan
The 2010 Tour of Hainan is the fifth edition. The sixth stage was cancelled after a few kilometres of racing because of heavy rains and flash flooding on some of the roads of the stage.


2010 Tour of Hainan, Stages, Stage 7
The organisation decided to shorten the stage because of heavy rainfalls. The race was started only 64 km before the original finish.


2010 Tour of Hainan, Stages, Stage 8
Kenny van Hummel crossed the finishline first to win his fourth stage, but the jury relegated him, and Markov became the winner.


2010 Tour of Oman
The 2010 Tour of Oman was the first edition of the Tour of Oman cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and held from 14 February to 19 February 2010, in Oman. The race was won by Fabian Cancellara of Team Saxo Bank.


2010 Tour of Oman, Teams
Sixteen teams competed in the 2010 Tour of Oman. These included ten UCI ProTour teams, five UCI Professional Continental teams, and one Continental team. Each team entered a squad of eight riders, giving the Tour a peloton of 128 riders.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 1
The first stage was a night time stage along a 16 lap course in Muscat Corniche. This night racing made the first couple of laps cautious because the riders had to race without headlights and did not want to risk an accident.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 2
Daniele Bennati won the stage in a sprint finish. It was his first victory since February 28, 2009. He outsprinted American sprinter Tyler Farrar and Norway's Edvald Boasson Hagen to get the victory. He dedicated the race to Franco Ballerini, an Italian cyclist who died February 7, 2010.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 2
In the Tour of Qatar Daniele Bennati helped out his team mate Francesco Chicchi but today was the reverse. With no one making a move with 300m to go so Bennati jumped and had enough speed to hold off the other sprinters. He credits his team mates Francesco Chicchi and Daniel Oss for giving him a great lead out. This victory put Bennati in a comfortable 3rd position overall with the same time as the leader.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 2
The three riders tied for first are (in order): Edvald Boasson Hagen, Jimmy Casper, and Daniele Bennati.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 3
Team Sky's Edvald Boasson Hagen confirmed that he is the big favourite to win the first edition of the Tour of Oman by winning Tuesday's third stage to Qurayyat and extending his overall lead.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 3
The 22-year-old Norwegian got a perfect leadout from his teammates, responded to a late surge by the Garmin–Transitions team and then accelerated to the line to win with his arms waving in celebration. Team Katusha's Danilo Napolitano was 2nd and Tyler Farrar was 3rd.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 3
The 10 second time bonus won in the stage puts him 10 seconds ahead of Tyler Farrar who is in 2nd place.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 4
The Tour of Oman exploded during the toughest stage of the race on Wednesday as Team Sky and the rest of the peloton swapped below the belt punches during the race and then accusations on unfair play after the finish. Australia's Leigh Howard won the stage with a fine sprint on the slightly uphill finish.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 4
Team Sky riders let a six-rider break gain almost seven minutes in the first hour and then were angry when no other teams were willing to help them chase the break.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 4
Several riders claimed that the Team Sky riders vented their anger on the peloton by blasting through the feed zone and then put the peloton in the gutter by riding a half-road echelon when the wind changed direction.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 4
That especially angered Cervélo TestTeam, who retaliated by splitting the race when Edvald Boasson Hagen stopped to uninate 55 km from the finish. Because he was race leader, Edvald Boasson Hagen had perhaps thought the peloton would wait for him, but in the heat of battle, nobody did and 41 riders group quickly formed an echelon and accelerated up the road. Boasson Hagen never caught up to the peloton and as a result finished 1'05" behind Leigh Howard and is currently in 34th position.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 5
Quick-Step's Tom Boonen took his third win in 11 days of racing in the Gulf, winning a hectic sprint at the end of stage five of the Tour of Oman. Boonen won two stages in the Tour of Qatar and seemed back to his very best.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 5
Tom Boonen got an excellent leadout from his teammates and then dug deep to find an extra bit of speed to beat Team Saxo Bank's Juan Jose Haedo.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 5
The win put Tom Boonen 2 seconds behind the overall leader, Daniele Bennati.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 5
After five days of racing, 26 riders are still within 16 seconds in the overall standings and so Friday's 18.5 km time trial will decide the winner of the inaugural Tour of Oman.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 6
Edvald Boasson Hagen of Team Sky won the 6th and final stage in the Tour of Oman, but time trialest Fabian Cancellara placed 2nd on the stage (17 seconds behind Edvald Boasson Hagen) which gave him the overall victory.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 6
The win made Edvald Boasson Hagen as the youth classifications winner, as well as the green jersey for the overall points winner. Edvald Boasson Hagen hit speeds of almost 100 km/h 100 km/h (62 mph) on the fast downhill section following the second climb and swept up the riders in front of him throughout his ride.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 6
Cancellara revealed he will not race again until the Eroica in Tuscany in early March. His winter training was disrupted by illness in January but he is now satisfied that he is back on schedule.


2010 Tour of Oman, Stages, Stage 6
He is still some way from the Cancellara who can dominate Milan–San Remo, Paris–Roubaix and beat everyone in the big time trials, but his overall victory showed his class and experience. He was always in the right place during the decisive moments of the race and then used his time trialing skills and ability to hurt himself and come out on top. Cancellera was satisfied with his victory but admits he was hurting very much and that there is a lot of room for improvement for the big races later in the season.


2010 Tour of Oman, Classification leadership
For Stage 2, Kenny De Haes wore the green jersey.


2010 Tour of Oman, Classification leadership
For Stages 3 and 4, Tyler Farrar wore the green jersey, and Kristof Vandewalle wore the white jersey.


2010 Tour of Qatar
The 2010 Tour of Qatar was the ninth edition of the Tour of Qatar cycling stage race. It was rated as a 2.1 event on the UCI Asia Tour, and was held from 7 February to 12 February 2010, in Qatar. The race was won by Wouter Mol of Vacansoleil.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Teams
Sixteen teams competed in the 2010 Tour of Qatar. These included ten UCI ProTour teams, five UCI Professional Continental teams, and one Continental team. Each team entered a squad of eight riders, giving the Tour a peloton of 128 riders.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Teams
The same sixteen teams contested the inaugural Tour of Oman, which began on February 14. The teams' squads were expected to be similar for both events, with the individual time trial which closes out the Tour of Oman providing for the only minor changes.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 1
With time trial specialist Bradley Wiggins pulling them most of the way, Team Sky won the opening stage team time trial with a time of 9' 41", and an average speed of over 50 km/h (31 mph), and over 70 km/h (43 mph) on the closing section which featured a pronounced tailwind. Edvald Boasson Hagen was the first member of the team to cross the line, giving him the golden jersey. Defending Tour champion Tom Boonen's Quick-Step team was fifth, putting him 20 seconds off the race lead.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 1
The second place team was Garmin–Transitions, after the disqualification of Cervélo TestTeam. The TestTeam was penalized a minute due to Heinrich Haussler pushing Gabriel Rasch after taking a turn on the front. The team protested the penalty, denying that the push was meant to gain any competitive advantage, with Haussler saying that it instead was to help Rasch avoid crashing. The penalty was upheld, and pre-race contender Haussler was placed over a minute off the race lead. The team's sporting director considered withdrawing them from the race because of the penalty, but decided against it.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 2
Almost straight away, when racing got underway, a group of two, Geert Steurs and Wouter Mol attacked and immediately got a few minutes over the peloton. As the race went on, they increased their advantage to well over 12 minutes.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 2
However the peloton was not content to this breakaway. As a result, a group of favourites, which featured Tom Boonen from Quick-Step, Tyler Farrar from Garmin–Transitions, Cervélo TestTeam's fast man Heinrich Haussler were among about fifteen more riders, that were up the front when the split happened and formed a small chasing group. Golden jersey holder Edvald Boasson Hagen missed out on the breakaways and with approximately 40 km to go suffered a punctured tire which put him 11 minutes behind the lead group of riders.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 2
Heading into the final kilometer, the lead group held 2 and a half minute advantage and it was Steurs who won the stage, but with Mol becoming the overall leader.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 3
Tom Boonen won his 16th career stage at the Tour of Qatar. The two-time defending champion began his sprint with 200 m (660 ft) to go from the finish line and with the help of teammate Andreas Stauff and was clocked at going 72.8 km/h (45.2 mph) at the finish line to outsprint Cervélo TestTeam's Heinrich Haussler.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 3
It was the first time in the Tour of Qatar's history where a stage started from the city of Dukhan in the west of the country. Unlike the previous days, the wind dropped and was favourable for almost the whole course.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 3
Like the previous day, within 2 km (1.2 mi) a breakaway occurred. The biggest lead they had over the peloton was 55 seconds, and they were caught a mere 23 km (14 mi) from the start.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 3
At the 60 km (37 mi) mark, another group of riders broke away and they managed to get a 2:30 lead on the peloton. At that point, Cervélo TestTeam and Garmin–Transitions took the role of reeling the breakaway group back in, which they caught at the 107 km (66 mi) mark.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 4
It was Italian Francesco Chicchi claiming a final sprint to the line with Heinrich Haussler coming in second, and Juan José Haedo arriving third.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 4
Like the previous stages, breakaways occurred and most were quickly reeled in. Sep Vanmarcke from Vacansoleil made a break from the peloton and was away for much of the stage. At the 40 km (25 mi) to go mark, the gap was just below two minutes as Vacansoleil was contributing the majority of the pace setting preserving the leader’s golden jersey for Wouter Mol. For the next 15 km (9.3 mi), the gap hovered around the 1 minute and 45 second mark with the sprinters teams holding back on making a move until later in the stage.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 4
The catch occurred with about 6 km (3.7 mi) to go, with Team Saxo Bank doing the pacing. Team HTC–Columbia and Team Sky moved to the front with 2 km (1.2 mi) to go. In the final kilometer the peloton was strung out in a long line and the pace was that high that a small split occurred.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 4
With 400 m (1,300 ft) to go it was Theo Bos leading out the sprint to the line, trying to deliver Haussler first. Haussler had missed Bos' wheel, though, and with their teammate Roger Hammond directing Bos to continue his leadout, Haussler's chance at victory was quickly gone. Chicchi made his winning move peeling out and got into the clear. No one could match his blistering pace and he crossed the line three bike lengths ahead of Haussler in second.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 5
Stage 5 came down to a sprint and for the second time in the Tour it was Tom Boonen claiming victory at the finish line. It was his 17th career stage win at the Tour of Qatar. While the victory gave him ten bonus seconds, the Belgian speedster still stood almost two minutes behind race leader Wouter Mol at day's end.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 5
Again, a breakaway occurred which consisted of six riders and but they were captured with 27 km (17 mi) to go. A group of notables got away from the main peloton in a counterattack – this group consisted of the overall leader, Mol, the youth leader, Roger Kluge, Fabian Cancellara, and sprinters Boonen, Tyler Farrar, Heinrich Haussler, Juan José Haedo, and Daniele Bennati. The peloton never allowed them to get too far ahead and were eventually reeled in.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Stages, Stage 5
The stage victory for Boonen put him within 8 points of Haussler for the points classification silver jersey.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
In the 2010 Tour of Qatar, three different jerseys are awarded. For the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage, and allowing time bonuses for the first three finishers on each stage and in intermediate sprints, the leader receives a golden jersey. This classification is considered the most important of the Tour of Qatar, and the winner is considered the winner of the Tour.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
Additionally, there is a points classification, which awards a silver jersey. In the points classification, cyclists get points for finishing in the top three in an intermediate sprint or the top twenty of a stage. The first in an intermediate sprint gets 3 points, second 2, and third a single point. The stage win affords 30 points, second is worth 27 points, 25 for third, 23 for fourth, 21 for fifth, 19 for sixth, 17 for seventh, 15 for eighth, 13 for ninth, 11 for tenth, and one point less per place down the line, to a single point for twentieth.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
There is also a youth classification, which awards a blue jersey. This classification is calculated the same as the general classification, but only riders born on or after January 1, 1985, are eligible.


2010 Tour of Qatar, Classification leadership
The race also awards a teams classification, which is not represented by a jersey. The teams classification is calculated by adding the times of each team's best three riders per stage per day.


2010 Tour of Turkey
The 2010 Tour of Turkey was the 46th edition of professional road bicycle racing Tour of Turkey.


2010 Tour of Utah
The 2010 Tour of Utah was the seventh edition of the Tour of Utah. It was held August 17-22, 2010. The race was distinguished by the decision of the organizers prior to the race to submit the 2011 edition of the race for addition to the UCI America Tour, upgrading it from national status to international status.


2010 Tour of Utah
Although UCI Pro Tour team were not allowed to compete in the race, Levi Leipheimer of Team RadioShack, who had just won the Leadville Trail 100 MTB mountain-bike race in Colorado, raced as the sole member of a team sponsored by Lance Armstrong's Austin bicycle shop, Mellow Johnny's, and won the overall title. Consistent with its self-proclaimed title of "America's toughest stage race", only 71 of the original 140 starters finished the race.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages
Like 2009, the 2010 race had a prologue, three road stages, a criterium and a time trial. In addition to Leipheimer, Taylor Phinney, who was a stagiaire at RadioShack at the time, entered as part of RadioShack's U23 team Trek-Livestrong. Only one UCI Professional Continental team, BMC Racing Team, competed in the race, along with several UCI Continental teams, some national teams and a few entries like Mellow Johnny's. In total, 140 riders began the race.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages
Leipheimer won alone on stage 2, came in second on stage 3 and second in a two-man finish on stage 5 to beat the previous year's winner, Francisco Mancebo, by 2:30. 19-year-old Ian Boswell from Bissell came in a surprising third and was also Best Young Rider; after the race, he joined Trek-Livestrong as well. The only riders to wear the yellow jersey in the race were affiliated with RadioShack: Phinney (after the Prologue), Trek-Livestrong's Alex Dowsett (after Stage One), and Leipheimer (remainder).


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages, Prologue
August 17, 2010 -- Salt Lake City, 2.8 miles (4.5 km)The prologue, a loop around the State Capitol in Salt Lake City, was identical to the previous year's prologue. This time, it was dominated by Phinney and Dowsett from Trek-Livestrong, with Brent Bookwalter, the 2009 winner of the prologue, coming in third.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 1
August 18, 2010 --  Ogden to Salt Lake City, 82 miles (132 km)Stage 1  presented a flat, hot finish that was likely to end up in a bunch sprint. However, two of the leaders, David Tanner of Fly V Australia and Alex Dowsett of Trek-Livestrong, managed to break away on the last descent and hang on to beat the pack by 26 seconds, giving Dowsett the overall lead after time bonuses. Seven riders failed to complete the stage, and two riders were time-cut after this stage, leaving 131 riders still competing.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 2
August 19, 2010 -- Thanksgiving Point to Mount Nebo, 77 miles (124 km)Stage 2 started in the Salt Lake City suburb of Thanksgiving Point and ended with a mountaintop finish above 9,000 feet on Mount Nebo, the highest peak in the Wasatch Range. A select group of six riders broke away from the pack on the final ascent, but Leipheimer than pedaled away from the selection for the stage win and the overall lead. Four riders dropped out, and 8 riders were time-cut, leaving 119 riders still competing.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 3
August 20, 2010 -- Miller Motorsports Park, individual time trial, 9.2 miles (14.8 km)Stage 3 started about a half-hour late due to the high temperatures around the racetrack, which finally started to cool off by the race's actual start time of 6:30 PM. In a repeat of the prologue, Taylor Phinney claimed the victory, this time by edging Leipheimer. Phinney, Leipheimer and third-place finisher Jeremy Vennell all surpassed Tom Zirbel's winning time from the 2009 Tour individual time trial, run on the identical course, which was 14 seconds slower than Phinney's time.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 4
August 21, 2010 -- Park City, 75 minutesStage 4, the Park City Criterium, was measured by time instead of distance. The riders circled a one-mile loop with a 10% grade at 7,000 feet for 75 minutes. Because of the uncertain length, the riders tried to close any breaks down before they could become established. The high speeds and high altitude wreaked havoc on the field, as 33 riders dropped out, leaving just 86 riders remaining. Former Tour of Utah champion Jeff Louder of the BMC Racing Team, a Utah native who was over five minutes down in the overall standings, managed to break away without being chased down by the field for a 22-second victory.


2010 Tour of Utah, Stages, Stage 5
August 22, 2010 -- Kimball Junction to Snowbird, 161 kilometres (100 mi)The final stage of the 2010 Tour, Stage 5, began from Kimball Junction, just outside Park City, and trekked for 161 km through the mountains until ending on a mountaintop finish at the Snowbird ski resort. Leipheimer and Fly V Australia's Jai Crawford broke away from the rest of the elite riders to win the stage by a minute over defending champion Francisco Mancebo, who finished second behind Leipheimer in the general classification. By winning the stage, Crawford won the "King of the Mountains" jersey for the event. After another 15 people failed to finish this stage, the race ended with only 71 of the original 140 contestants (50.7%).


2010 Tour of the Basque Country
The 2010 Tour of the Basque Country, was the 50th edition of the Tour of the Basque Country cycling stage race. It started on 5 April and ended on 10 April. Chris Horner won the race 7 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde after winning the sixth and final stage which was an individual time trial 8 seconds ahead of Valverde. Valverde's results were subsequently removed after a retroactive suspension was applied.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Pre-Race Favourites
Two time defending champion, Alberto Contador announced that he would not be taking part in the 2010 Tour. Instead he put his focus at the Critérium International. 2009 Tour de France runner up Andy Schleck and his brother, Fränk Schleck as well as 2009 Vuelta a España champion Alejandro Valverde were heavy favourites. However other favourites also included Team RadioShack's Andreas Klöden, Italy's Damiano Cunego and Samuel Sánchez from Spain.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Teams
There are 20 teams competing in the 2010 Tour of the Basque Country. They are:


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 1
Alejandro Valverde was awarded the opening stage after Óscar Freire, who crossed the line first, was disqualified for interfering with him in the sprint. After the subsequent removal of Valverde's results, Freire was reinstated as stage winner. Pre -race favourite, Samuel Sánchez missed a decisive split in the peloton and finished 1:38 behind the peloton, making a victory for him seem very unlikely.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
After missing a decisive split that put him over 1:30 behind the race leader, it was the Olympic Champion Samuel Sánchez who won the hilliest stage of this year's tour.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Samuel Sánchez caught Chris Horner at the top of the Alto de Usartza climb and then dived down the short descent to the finish to win by two seconds. Alejandro Valverde and Robert Gesink also caught Chris Horner who barely managed to stay with them.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
The victory put Alejandro Valverde only one second ahead of Chris Horner and Robert Gesink respectively. The overall favourites knew they had to wait for the Alto de Usartza, that ended just two kilometres from the finish.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 4
Samuel Sánchez's victory was Euskaltel–Euskadi's first victory of the 2010 cycling year as well.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
Joaquim Rodríguez soloed across the finish line, taking 14 seconds off of race leader Alejandro Valverde and put him comfortably in 3rd place. 2008 Champion Samuel Sánchez came in 2nd place, just ahead of race leader Alejandro Valverde.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
A large attack group including mountains classification leader Amets Txurruka spent much of the day ahead of the peloton. On the penultimate climb Txurruka attacked solo, but crashed on the descent towards the final climb. He was able to complete the stage, but broke his collarbone in the incident and had to drop out before the final time trial.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
Robert Gesink who was in 3rd place after the previous stage, is now in 8th place after experiencing a crash on the final climb. His team (Rabobank) reported that he may have broken a bone in his hand.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
Joaquim Rodríguez had attacked out of the chasing peloton with about 20 km to go, passing the remnants of an earlier escape group. He had come into the stage 48 seconds down on the general ranking, dangerous enough for Valverde, Horner and Sánchez to give chase.


2010 Tour of the Basque Country, Stages, Stage 5
Joaquim Rodríguez was happy with the result and the ITT is different than normal because it has a hilly finish. His dream is to take the GC.


2010 Touring Car Masters
The 2010 Touring Car Masters was Australian motor racing competition for Touring Cars. The series was open to models manufactured between 1 January 1963 and 31 December 1973 and to specific models manufactured between 1 January 1974 and 31 December 1976. It was sanctioned by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport (CAMS) as a National Series and ‘Australian Classic Touring Cars’ was appointed by CAMS as the Category Manager. The series was the fourth annual Touring Car Masters.