Mont Ventoux Has a New Champion - Denis Menchov

Stage 4 of the Dauphine Libere was, arguably, the most difficult in the one-week race. Actually, when you talk about Mont Ventoux, you think about Tour de France. And not just any Tour de France, but one of the most spectacular editions of the race in the last decade. For those of you who don’t remember, it was the stage in which Lance Armstrong and Marco Pantani fought side by side until the last drop of energy in the 2000 Tour de France.

Well now, it was Russian’s Denis Menchov turn to set up the pace in the Mont Ventoux stage. Six years after one of the greatest moments in the history of cycling, the Rabobank cyclist fought side by side against French favorite Christophe Moreau for the stage win. And he managed to overcome the AG2R rider, triumphing in his first important stage of the season.

After the stage ended, Menchov only managed to say one sentence: “It was a tough sprint - but what matters is who comes first”. The win not only made him one of the luckiest cyclists in the world right now – since only 2 men in the recent history of the sport won here – but also helped him reach the second place in the overall standings of Dauphine Libere. He is now 28 seconds behind American Levi Leipheimer, who finished 3rd in the Mont Ventoux stage, 15 seconds behind the Russian.

Here are the complete results from the 4th stage of Dauphine Libere, the last true test before “Le Tour” gets under way:

1. Denis Menchov (Russia/Rabobank) 4 hours 50 minutes 37 seconds
2. Christophe Moreau (France/AG2R) ST
3. Levi Leipheimer (US/Gerolsteiner) +15"
4. Jose Azevedo (Portugal/Discovery Channel) +29"
5. Sylvain Chavanel (France/Cofidis) +54"
6. Bernhard Kohl (Austria/T-Mobile)
7. Francisco Mancebo (Spain/AG2R) +1:04"
8. Sergio Paulinho (Portugal/Wuerth) +1:15"
9. Pietro Caucchioli (Italy/Credit Agricole) +1:19"
10. Maxim Iglinskiy (Kazakhstan/Milram) +1:30"