Tour de France

Today will begin to sort the potential winners from the rest of the field as the Tour hits the big mountains for the first time. The 139.2-mile ninth stage through the Pyrenees from Toulouse to Bagneres-de-Bigorre includes two category-one climbs:

July 13, 2008|From the Associated Press

A review of what happened Saturday and a look at what to

expect in today's stage:

Saturday's stage: A 107.2-mile, mostly flat ride from Figeac to Toulouse, the final part of which took place in heavy rain.

Winner: Mark Cavendish of Britain and Team Columbia won his second stage in four days. Teammate Gerald Ciolek of Germany was second, with Jimmy Casper of France third.

Yellow jersey: Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg retained the jersey, ahead of Cadel Evans of Australia and Germany's Stefan Schumacher.

Quote of the day: "As long as I'm riding my bike I know I'm the luckiest guy on the planet, so that's that." -- Cavendish, when asked if he was afraid of today's mountain stage.

*--* STAGE 8 RESULTS 1. Mark Cavendish, Britain: 4:02:54 2. Gerald Ciolek, Germany: same time 3. Jimmy Casper, France: same time 4. Oscar Freire, Spain: same time 5. Robert Forster, Germany: same time *--*

*--* OVERALL STANDINGS 1. Kim Kirchen, Luxembourg: 32:26:34 2. Cadel Evans, Australia: 0:06 behind 3. Stefan Schumacher, Germany: 0:16 behind 4. Christian Vandevelde, U.S.: 0:44 behind 5. Denis Menchov, Russia: 1:03 behind *--*