Misfortune cages Barloworld's dreams up to the Champs Elys


95th Tour de France's finish act on the Champs Elys

Team Barloworld's Tour de France has been marked by bad luck until the very last metre. Belgian Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) won the final sprint on the Champs Elys - ahead of German Gerald Ciolek (Team Columbia) and Spanish green jersey winner Oscar Freire Gomez (Rabobank) - redeeming his team's weak results along the Grande Boucle.

Also Robert Hunter had the same purpose and hoped to gift his team a prestigious results on the finish line in Paris. Unfortunately he suffered two punctures in the penultimate lap, but Chris Froome firstly and Gianpaolo Cheula later on managed to help him quickly. Rob succeeded in taking part to the bunch sprint anyway and he placed tenth. "Honestly I don't think it was possible to make better", a disappointed Hunter stated after the race. Hunter was one out of four Barloworld's riders to complete Tour de France (together with Cheula, Froome and Augustyn).

Overall winner Carlos Sastre, 33, and his CSC steered clear of trouble on the 21st and final stage enjoying their triumph on the Parisian catwalk, where an impressive crowd welcomed the riders despite last days' bad events as well as a threesome podium (Sastre, Evans, Kohl) out of any forecasts. Sastre's overall victory continues Spain's recent dominance of the world's greatest cycling race.


Final Results

Tour de France - stage 21: results

1. Gert Steegmans (Bel, Quick Step) 3.51.38, 37.04 km/h
2. Gerald Ciolek (Ger, Team Columbia)
3. Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa, Rabobank)
4. Robbie McEwen (Aus, Silence-Lotto)
5. Thor Hushovd (Nor, Crèdit Agricole)
6. Julian Dean (Nzl, Team Garmin)
7. Stefan Schumacher (Ger, Gerolsteiner)
8. Robert Förster (Ger, Gerolsteiner)
9. Leonardo Duque (Col, Cofidis)
10. Robert Hunter (Rsa, Barloworld)

79. John-Lee Augustyn (Rsa, Barloworld)
138. Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita, Barloworld)
145. Christopher Froome (Ken, Barloworld) 1.37


Final General classification

1. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa, Team CSC) 87.52.52
2. Cadel Evans (Aus, Silence-Lotto) 0.58
3. Bernhard Kohl (Aut, Gerolsteiner) 1.13
4. Denis Menchov (Rus, Rabobank) 2.10
5. Christian Vande Velde (USA, Team Garmin) 3.05
6. Frank Schleck (Lux, Team CSC) 4.28
7. Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa, Euskaltel) 6.25
8. Kim Kirchen (Lux, Team Columbia) 6.55
9. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa, Caisse d'Epargne) 7.12
10. Tadej Valjavec (Slo, AG2R) 9.05

48. John-Lee Augustyn (Rsa, Barloworld) 1.36.21
84. Christopher Froome (Ken, Barloworld) 2.22.33
88. Gianpaolo Cheula (Ita, Barloworld) 2.30.12
107. Robert Hunter (Rsa, Barloworld) 3.04.02





A spectacular crash by Barloworld's John-Lee Augustyn after cresting first over Col de la Bonnette-Restefond (2800m, 26.7 km at 6.2%), the highest paved road in Europe today scaled first by the youngest rider in the Tour at just 21 years old. He would then lose five minutes waiting for the team car and a new bike after his bike slide hundreds of metres down to the valley. (His crash was reminiscent of the equally young Wim Van Est during the 1951 Tour.)