Tour de France

Sanchez wins stage eight, bosses to protest radio ban

Article published on the 2009-07-12 Latest update 2009-07-12 11:04 TU

Caisse d'Epargne rider Luis Leon Sanchez of Spain holds up his arms ahead of Francaise des Jeux rider Sandy Casar of France as he wins the eighth stage of the Tour
(Photo: Reuters)

As the riders head into the third and final day in the Pyrenees on Sunday, the Italian rider Rinaldo Nocentini is holding onto a six-second lead. Spain's Alberto Contador is six seconds behind with Lance Armstrong, a further two seconds back.

Saturday's eighth stage was won by the Spaniard Luis Leon Sanchez who was part of a four-man breakaway group. The Russian Vladimir Efimkin launched an attack four kilometres from the finish but was reeled back in by the three others.

French rider Sandy Casar launched a final sprint, but Sanchez counterattacked to leave Casar with a second-place finish for the fifth time in four years.

Saturday's stage also saw Cadel Evans get away from the peloton but he was reeled in after about 65 kilometres. Evans said the rest of the riders in his breakaway were unhappy with his presence as the main bunch was obliged to chase them down.

Other unhappy people on the tour are the team managers who are protesting at two stages next week which will take place with radio silence.

During stages ten and 13 riders will not be allowed radio communication with their team cars, a practice that has been standard since it was used by Motorola in the 1990s.

The experiment may make the racing less predictable and leave riders with more room for iniative. But 14 of the 20 teams on the Tour have already signed a petition against the proposed radio silence.