Spanish champion prolongues contract with Unzué's squad for another season; young Cantabrian stays for two more years after a breakthrough 2011

Bad day for José Joaquín Rojas in Tour's hardest stage to date, suffering intestinal problems that did not avoid him completing the last ride before the rest day

It was a really hard day for the riders at the 2011 Tour de France, whose ninth stage covered 208 kilometers from Issoire to Saint-Flour with all ingredients from the Tour's most terrific days: rain, cold, temperature changes of more than 15 degrees, narrow roads, non-stop racing and, overall, crashes, the main figure of the day -Vinokourov, Van den Broeck and Zabriskie, among others, had to leave the race- as a dramatic descent through the Col de Puy Mary, the first out five consecutive ports into the center part of the stage, took many riders down, with fortunately all seven Movistar Team survivors riding across them with no troubles.

Nevertheless, the telephone squad had a harsh day as José Joaquín Rojas, victim of serious intestinal problems from the early morning that avoided him taking any food -barely two energy gels- during the five hours of racing. The Spanish champ struggled into the first climbs of the day and saw his physical problems paying off in the final col of the center part, where he dropped from the group with no fuel on the tank with 50k to go. However, the Murcian showed courage and completed a really difficult stage him so, counting on the rest day for him, he will keep fighting from next Tuesday for the green jersey, a ranking where Belgian Philippe Gilbert profited from his lack of energy to open an important gap. 

A hard blues after Movistar Team's success yesterday, as the squad will enjoy a more-needed-than-ever rest day in Aurillac. 

Cap Fréhel, France

Tour de France Stage 5: Dangerous Day

Cadel Evans avoided a number of crashes that took down several overall contenders at the Tour de France Wednesday as the BMC Racing Team's leader held onto his second place overall.

Stayed In Front

Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Sungard), Bradley Wiggins (Sky Pro Cycling) and Robert Gesink (Rabobank) each crashed, but all were able to get up and continue. Evans finished 11th as Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) won the uphill bunch sprint finish on the 164.5-kilometer stage. "It was really windy, with narrow, winding roads," Evans said. "We worked hard to stay in front all day. I just kept hearing on the radio over and over again, 'crash, crash, crash' and sort of kept going, and then I saw Gesink all covered in dirt. It was a dangerous day."

Good Guidance

Evans remains one second behind yellow jersey wearer Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervélo) heading into the longest stage (226.5 km) of this year's race. The two-time Tour de France runner-up said he's appreciating the fine teamwork he has received, particularly from Manuel Quinziato and Marcus Burghardt. "They're used to riding the classics and riding in the front all day, and dodging traffic islands is their speciality," Evans said. "I'm very grateful to have them here for that as well as their role in the team."