61st Criterium du Dauphine Libere (2009) Photos June 7-14

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Stage 1:  Nancy - Nancy (ITT), 12.1km  Full Results and Report

Don't be deceived. Ivan Basso got off to a slow start at this year's Dauphine	Cadel Evans, on the other hand, looks rested and focused	Alberto Contador is anxious to get started too. He hasn't raced since his win at Pais Vasco in early April.
Compared to the slender figure of a typical pro cyclist, Bert Grabsch (Ger) always looks beefy especially in his World Chanpion's jersey. He was one-minute off the winning time.	Cadel Evans lit up the course	His winning time of 15.36 was 33 seconds faster than Quick Step's Sebastien Rosseler long-standing best intermediate time
Third to last out of the gate, Alberto Contador posted the second best time @ 8 seconds	Last year's Dauphine overall winner, Alejandro Valverde was third @ 23 seconds	Cadel Evans (Aus) of Silence - Lotto gets his second win of the year and dons the first Yellow Jersey of this year's Dauphine

Stage 2:  Nancy - Dijon, 228km  Full Results and Report

Cadel Evans ready to defend his Yellow Jersey for the first road stage	Alberto Contador wore green this morning since Evans can't wear all three leaders jerseys at once. Notice the lack of even a faded Astana logo... a sign that the financial dispute is not fully resolved.	Lampre's Angelo Furlan wins ahead of Markus Zberg of BMC (right) and Tom Boonen of Quick Step (left)
David Millar (obscured by the Katusha rider left) was caught with 50 m left after rolling off the front with 5km to go.	Maybe the biggest pro win for the 31 year-old Italian (who speaks excellent French) and his first win of the year.
Cadel Evans remains the race leader

Stage 3:  Tournus - Saint-Etienne, 182km  Full Results and Report

No more team faded; the riders have been paid. Astana's Alberto Contador and teammate happily arrive at the start.	Cadel Evans in Yellow at the start in Tournus	The five man break succeeds after escaping 34 kilometres into the 182-kilometre stage
The bunch sprint finish with 50 m to go cheered on by a good crowd	Dutch rider Niki Terpstra of Milram is eager to start his victory salute	Niki Terpstra indeed wins stage 3. 2nd Ludovic Turpin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale and 3rd Iouri Trofimov (Rus) Bbox Bouygues Telecom
		The field sprint
Nikolai Trusov (Rus) Katusha was #1 in the field sprint but 6th overall @ 1.32 off the winning time. We assume he knew he didn't actually win the race.	Niki Terpstra on the podium.
He's now in Yellow too.

Stage 4:  Bourg-Les-Valence - Valence (ITT), 42.4km  Full Results and Report

This photo captures the essence of the Criterium du Dauphine Libere: time-trialing and the mountains	An early rider rolling through the flats past one of the many corn fields in France	Having some fun changing the terrain for a Garmin rider
Bert Grabsch (Columbia-Highroad) has the right build for American football and apparently time-trialing as well	Bert Grabsch's winning form. His winning time: 42 km in 51.26 minutes.	Alejandro Valverde probably has a lot on his mind. Last year's TT and overall winner finished 10th today 1'38" back.
Cadel Evans was dialed in again. He finished 2nd just 7 seconds back.	Further up the road...	"Grabsch is huge!!" exclaimed the photographer
Alberto Contador lost 37 seconds to Cadel Evans today with his 5th place performance	Cadel Evans made up time on Grabsch on the climb but it wasn't tough enough	Your Stage 4 ITT winner, the current world champion, Bert Grabsch of Columbia-Highroad
Cadel Evans is back in Yellow with a 45 second lead over Alberto Contador

Stage 5:  Valence - Le Mont Ventoux, 154km  Full Results and Report

Cadel Evans is (temporarily) in Yellow again at the start in Valence.	Welcome to Bedoin, base camp for Mont-Ventoux (the infamous lonely giant is in the distance)	The view of the last few km before the riders get there
The view down the north side (Bedoin is on the south side)	The current state of the Tom Simpson memorial	Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) and Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Caisse d'Epargne) continued to increase their lead as they clawed their way to the top
No one would/could help Cadel Evans chase the two riders up the road. Alberto Contador (in green) was on Cadel Evans' wheel the entire climb	Further back	The peloton came through after the break and the GC contenders passed
The switchbacks (lined by campers today) cutting through the bare white limestone. There is no climb like it in cycling.	Valverde rounded the final steep corner first
... But Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) had one last spurt in him.	Valverde raised his arm in victory too because he put in enough time on the GC conteders to take the Yellow Jersey	Evans rounding the final corner 2 minutes later with Alberto Contador still on his wheel
Evans crossing the line in 6th, 2.10 back of Valverde	David Millar produced the climbing performance of his life, finishing 11th just 2.28 back. He has now moved into 4th place after 5 stages just 1.43 off the lead	Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas). The winner of Mont-Ventoux is now, justifiably, the leader of the Mountains classification
A great ride by Valvarde today despite the bad news that lies ahead	Last year's overall winner is back in Yellow after the first mountain stage with three more mountainous stages to come	Cadel Evans is relegated to the green (points leader) jersey

Stage 6:  Gap - Briançon, 106km  Full Results and Report

The winning break consisting of (L-to-R) Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom, Stephane Goubert (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale and Jurgen Van de Walle (Bel) Quick Step	GC leader Alejandro Valverde admiring the view from Col d'Izoard on a beautiful day in the Alps	Sylvester Szmyd (Liquigas) wearing his potka dot jersey largely due to his winning effort on Le Mont-Ventoux yesterday
A big snowbank or a glacier on the descent?
	OK... back to the racing... Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom passed Jurgen Van de Walle (Bel) Quick Step in the last 100m after Van de Walle attacked in the narrow streets in Briançon	The top three GC contenders crossed together in 14th, 15th and 16th some 4+ minutes after the winner

Stage 7:  Briançon - Saint-François-Longchamp, 157km  Full Results and Report

The tiny peloton adds scale to the Col du Galibier landscape	A panoramic view of one of the most famous climbs in cycling (both racing and recreationally)	The riders didn't go to the top but they didn't need to seek refuge either on this gorgeous day
This tunnel cuts out the top part of the climb	Tight fit for the caravan	Race leader, Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne, reaching for a drink
	David De La Fuente wasn't in the mix but here's a good photo just in case his mom is tuning in	France's David Moncoutie of Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne was in the mix, breaking early in the race and then soloing Col de la Madeleine, 10 years to the day after winning for the first time at the Dauphine Libere
Don't tell me this is just a warm-up race! A Tour de France-like max effort from the GC contenders as Cadel Evans (center) attempts to gain seconds on the race leader who was completely spent at the line. Robert Gesink (right) finished second. Alberto Contador is in the rear watching the action. Upstart, Jakob Fuglsang of Team Saxo Bank (left) has really left his [Den]mark this week.	Lots of great post-stage photos to choose from but this one of Vladimir Efimkin says it all

Stage 8:  Faverges - Grenoble, 146km  Full Results and Report

Timothy Duggan of Garmin leads the race up Côte de Saint-Bernard-du-Touvet to be joined shortly by Stef Clement of Rabobank (rear)	Cadel Evans was once again driving the group of GC contenders	Evans launching one of his numerous unsuccessful attacks followed by Valvarde, Contador and Nibali
The three man break successfully stayed away on the descent and flat run into Grenoble before Stef Clement jumped first from well out	Sebastien Joly of Française des Jeux, in the rear, has been dropped and it's now a two man battle for the line	Time-trialist specialist Stef Clement of Rabobank gets his first road win. Another second place finish for Garmin-Slipstream at a major stage race this year. A strong showing for Timothy Duggins nonetheless.
Stef Clement of Rabobank celeberating the final stage win	Race winner Alejandro Valverde is now the world's number one rider on the UCI rankings, just in time to be suspended by the UCI. Isn't everyone sick of hearing about the drawn out Operación Puerto doping case?	The Final Podium: Alberto Contador replaces his Astana teammate, Levi Leipheimer on the 3rd step otherwise this is the same podium as last year. It's also the third year in a row Cadel Evans has finished second.