Tour 2007: Stage 6 – Boonen Sprints To Stage Win

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Another quick update on Le Tour today. Belgian Tom Boonen took the 124 mile Stage 6 with a dash to the finish with some of the top sprinters in hot pursuit. Boonen, the 2005 world champion zipped past Oscar Freire, a three time world champion himself, to steal the win. Freire finished second, with Eric Zabel in third.

Fabian Cancellara remains in Yellow for the seventh straight day after taking it in the open prologue. He’s the only man to wear the Jersey so far this year, and it’s beginning to look more and more like he won’t relinquish it until the race reaches the Alps next week. The climbers will likely bury Cancellara, who has done far better than anyone would have expected thus far.

The big news of the day was probably that Alexandre Vinokourov and teammate Andreas Klöden both reported to the starting line this morning. After separate crashes yesterday, it looked like one or both of them might be out of the race. Klöden is currently in second place, and is seen as a challenger for the title, but Vinokourov was one of the odds on favorites to win the Tour this year. It’s good to see that both men are healthy and still competing.

Tomorrow’s stage from Bourg-en-Bresse to Le Grand-Bornand will be 123 miles in length and will actually have a few challenging hills for the sprinters to sweat on.

Kraig Becker

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