Noted cheat, liar, and blood doper Alexander Vinokourov won the fourth (legal!) Tour stage of his career on Stage 13, a 196km trip from Rodez to Revel. Vinokourov attacked the peleton on the final cat-3 climb of the day to steal the glory from the sprinters. Mark Cavendish led the bunch home for second just ahead of Alessandro Pettachi, whose third place was enough to see him regain the Green Jersey from Thor Hushovd. With the peleton finishing together there was no change in the overall standings.
Let's get things straight - I have no time for Vinokourov, who claimed in 2007, after someone elses blood was found in his body, that it must have mixed in with his blood during a crash a few days earlier. Bulls**it! I hate the fact that this guy is back and racing and his stage win overnight leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Especially the way it was won. It takes a phenomenal effort to ride the peleton off your wheel in the final 10km when the sprinters won't the glory, but Vino appeared to do it easily, mainintaing a 13 second gap over the main field over the final dead flat 5km. Not only that, Vino pulled off this phenonmenal performance just ONE DAY AFTER he was part of a breakaway that led for over 150km of yesterday's stage. Surely he would be a little tired? Especially given the effort he put in on the final finishing climb to Mende? If this win doesn't have a whiff of dodgyness about it then I don't know what does and the sooner Vino dissapears into retirement the better and more enjoyable world cycling will be. The Tour orgainsers took big risks inviting this guy back to the race and if he tests positive at any time over the next 6 months I am going to be massively pissed off!
Anyway, rant over, and back to the real race (which unfortunatley was for second). Mark Cavendish showed the loss of Mark Renshaw will not hold him back when he powered over the top of his sprinting rivals to take second on the stage. He is now up to third in the points classification and trails Green Jersey wearer Alessandro Pettachi by just 25 points. Pettachi got the jump on Cav at the finish but simply had no answer to the power of the Manx man who stormed right over the top of him. Still, he regains the Green Jersey for his efforts after Thor Hushovd weakend in the final straight to finish only 8th on the stage. Personally I think that means his shot at back-to-back points titles is gone and the fight will be between Pettachi (presuming he can get over the Pyrenees) and Cavendish (presuming he wins the last two sprint stages).
Despite the series of small climbs on the days stage, most of the King of the Mountains points were won by the days 3 man break (Sylvain Chavanel, Juan Antoni Flecha, Perrick Fedrigo) meaning there was no change in the race for the Polka Dot Jersey, Anthony Charteau still wears it. And with the main bunch finishing together Andy Schleck continues to wear both the Yellow Jersey and White Jersey for best young rinder.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Alessandro Pettachi
Polka Dot Jersey - Perrick Fedrigo
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - The peleton finally confronts the brutality of the Pyrenees, begining with the 184km ride from Revel to the ski resort of Ax-3-Domaines. On the way they will also tackle the giant HC climb of the Porte de Pailheres, a giant that rises to over 2000m. That climb should be enough to knock out all but the elite GC boys by the bottom of the final cat-1 clims to Ax-3-Domaines and we should be set for a showdown. I expect Alberto Contador to attack like he did on the road to Mende and by the end of the stage he may have neutralised his current time gap to race leader Andy Schleck. Contador to win for mine.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Stage 12 - Game, Set And Match
Alberto Contador showed why he is a deserved short priced favourite to take his third Tour de France title when he put time into all his opponents on the final climb of Stage 12, a 210km journey from Bourg-de-Peage to Mende. Joaquin Rodriguez was the only man that could match Contador and as a result took his first Tour stage win on debut at the race. Alexander Vinokourov was third on the day as Contador closed to within just over 30 seconds of the Yellow Jersey.
I may be going off slightly early here but last night's stage for me showed that Alberto Contador is an absolute certainty to win the 2010 Tour de France. After showing (slight) signs of weakness in the Alps, Contador put in his real first agressive attack of this years Tour on the final climb up to the aerodrome in Mende. And all importantly, Andy Schleck could not match him! In fact, apart from stage winner Joaquin Rodriguez (now 8th overall) no one could, and by the end of the short climb Contador had put at least 10 seconds into all his major GC rivals in finishing seconds. As a result, Andy Schleck's overall lead over Contador was reduced to just 31 seconds. That will not be enough for the young Luxumburger to hold off Contador in the final time trial, and on today's relative performances you would expect Contador will be looking to make up more time at some stage during the daunting four days in the Pyrenees. I predict he will take the yellow jersey somewhere in the Southern Mountains, and increase his lead in the final time trial to win his third title. Andy Schleck did have the benefit of increasing his lead in the Youth Classification by another five seconds after beating Robert Gesink to the line, and he now has a lead of around four and a half minutes in the White Jersey battle.
Contador and Rodriguez burst away from the peleton on the final climb to real in the remenants of the days break. With Contador looking to put time into all his rivals he virtually dragged Rodriquez to the line, allowing his fellow Spaniard to sprint past him for his first stage win in his first ever Tour. Third placed went to the only member of the day's breakaway to survive the final climb with a time advantage in tact. That was Kazakh blood doper Alexander Vinokourov who was just 4 seconds back in third.
Another member of the days breakaway was Norwegian national champion Thor Hushovd, who grabbed the lead in the extremely exciting Green Jersey competition from Alessandro Pettachi after finishing 2nd and 1st on the two intermediate sprints on the day's stage. With the final climb denting any hopes of a bunch sprint at the finish, Hushovd sat up from the break after the second intermediate sprint and returned to the peleton, happy in the knowledge he would wear the Green Jersey on Stage 13 with a 6 point lead over Pettachi. This battle is sure to go all the way down to the wire in Paris. In sadder news, US sprinter Tyler Farrar abandoned the Tour on the stage. He has suffered big time in this years event after an early crash and we did not get to see his true potential. He will be back bigger and better in future years.
The polka-dot jesrey also continued its yo-yo from one rider to another after Anthony Charteau got into the days break. Charteau won a couple of climbs and was second in another, earning enough points to retake the lead in the King of the Mountains classification from countryment Jerome Pineau. Charteau now leads the classification by 15 points, the biggest margin we have seen in these particular standings for a while.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Anthony Charteau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Stage 13 is a less severe rolling stage over the south of France, over a distance of 195km from Rodez to Revel. With this the only real chance for a last bunch sprint before Paris it is hard to see any breakaways surviving, especially with the race for the Green Jersey so tight this year. If it gets down to a bunch sprint I am still going to tip Mark Cavendish despite the loss of his lead out man in Mark Renshaw. I reckon Cav will want to win here to prove a point, and no doubt he will be dedicating the win to Renshaw if he does.
I may be going off slightly early here but last night's stage for me showed that Alberto Contador is an absolute certainty to win the 2010 Tour de France. After showing (slight) signs of weakness in the Alps, Contador put in his real first agressive attack of this years Tour on the final climb up to the aerodrome in Mende. And all importantly, Andy Schleck could not match him! In fact, apart from stage winner Joaquin Rodriguez (now 8th overall) no one could, and by the end of the short climb Contador had put at least 10 seconds into all his major GC rivals in finishing seconds. As a result, Andy Schleck's overall lead over Contador was reduced to just 31 seconds. That will not be enough for the young Luxumburger to hold off Contador in the final time trial, and on today's relative performances you would expect Contador will be looking to make up more time at some stage during the daunting four days in the Pyrenees. I predict he will take the yellow jersey somewhere in the Southern Mountains, and increase his lead in the final time trial to win his third title. Andy Schleck did have the benefit of increasing his lead in the Youth Classification by another five seconds after beating Robert Gesink to the line, and he now has a lead of around four and a half minutes in the White Jersey battle.
Contador and Rodriguez burst away from the peleton on the final climb to real in the remenants of the days break. With Contador looking to put time into all his rivals he virtually dragged Rodriquez to the line, allowing his fellow Spaniard to sprint past him for his first stage win in his first ever Tour. Third placed went to the only member of the day's breakaway to survive the final climb with a time advantage in tact. That was Kazakh blood doper Alexander Vinokourov who was just 4 seconds back in third.
Another member of the days breakaway was Norwegian national champion Thor Hushovd, who grabbed the lead in the extremely exciting Green Jersey competition from Alessandro Pettachi after finishing 2nd and 1st on the two intermediate sprints on the day's stage. With the final climb denting any hopes of a bunch sprint at the finish, Hushovd sat up from the break after the second intermediate sprint and returned to the peleton, happy in the knowledge he would wear the Green Jersey on Stage 13 with a 6 point lead over Pettachi. This battle is sure to go all the way down to the wire in Paris. In sadder news, US sprinter Tyler Farrar abandoned the Tour on the stage. He has suffered big time in this years event after an early crash and we did not get to see his true potential. He will be back bigger and better in future years.
The polka-dot jesrey also continued its yo-yo from one rider to another after Anthony Charteau got into the days break. Charteau won a couple of climbs and was second in another, earning enough points to retake the lead in the King of the Mountains classification from countryment Jerome Pineau. Charteau now leads the classification by 15 points, the biggest margin we have seen in these particular standings for a while.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Anthony Charteau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Stage 13 is a less severe rolling stage over the south of France, over a distance of 195km from Rodez to Revel. With this the only real chance for a last bunch sprint before Paris it is hard to see any breakaways surviving, especially with the race for the Green Jersey so tight this year. If it gets down to a bunch sprint I am still going to tip Mark Cavendish despite the loss of his lead out man in Mark Renshaw. I reckon Cav will want to win here to prove a point, and no doubt he will be dedicating the win to Renshaw if he does.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Stage 11 - Clash Of Heads In Bourg-les-Valence
Mark Renshaw was sensationally ejected from the Tour de France overnight after being found guilty of headbutting fellow lead out man Julian Dean at the conclusion of Stage 11, a 185km ride from Sisteron to Bourg-les-Valence. However, the ends may have justified the means as Renshaw's teammate Mark Cavendish sped away to his third stage victory defeating Alessandro Pettachi (who inherited the Green Jersey) and Tyler Farrar in the final sprint. There was no change to the overall classification with the main bunch all finishing together.
Renshaw's disqualification will be a major talking point after the Australian rider was thrown out of the race for repeatedly headbutting Julian Dean in the final kilometre in order to make space for Mark Cavendish in the sprint. With Dean pinning Renshaw (and therefore Cavendish) to the barriers, Renshaw repeatedly used his head to move Dean out of the way. Finally he was succesful and opened up a path for the Manx man to get through, but on review of the tape race officials were outraged and disqualified Renshaw. Personally, I think a disqualification is harsh and a relegation to last position on the stage would have sufficied. I question whether the same punishment would have been metred out to one of the glamour sprinters for a similar incicident. Renshaw may have paid the price for being simply a lead out man (I question whether a European would have recieved a similar punishment to be honest). In the end, the results worked, as once Cavendish found daylight he stormed away from rivals to take the stage, his third of this years Tour, and the 13th of his career.
As a result Cavendish is up to fourth in the points classification and now trails new leader Alessandro Pettachi by just 29 points. Pettachi took the jersey off Thor Hushovd's shoulders after the Norwegian could only manage 7th on the stage. He now leads the classification by 4 points and would have to be favoured to take the jersey in Paris now, especially given that Hushovd cannot seem to match it with the big guys in the sprints at the moment. Admittedly their are four big mountain stages that Pettachi must get over in the Pyrenees to get to Paris (and he has never finished the tour before), but he has shown his ability to last a three week tour in the Giro many times. Surely the Green Jersey is incentive enough to get him over the line. You would think Hushovd's best chacne now is to try and pinch some points in the intermediate sprints somewhere, while Cavendish will have to win in Revel and Paris, and hope his rivals slip up and drop big points if he is to take his first Green jersey.
Jerome Pineau increased his hold on the Polka Dot Jersey over Anthony Charteau to 2 points by picking up the last available point on the only climb of the day, the cat-4 Col de Cabre. With the peleton finishing together there was no change to the overall classification with Andy Schleck contiuing to hold onto both the Yellow and White Jersey's.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Alessandro Pettachi
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pineau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - The big boy's might come back out to play on Stage 12, a 210km roll from Bourg-de-Peage to Mende. The day finishes with the cat-2 climb of the Cote de la Croix-Neuve, a climb which Alberto Contador has already won on twice in Paris-Nice. Given that, and given that Contador still needs to make up time on his great rival Andy Schleck, it is hard to go past the Spaniard for the stage win. This may be only classified a medium mountains stage but there is sure to be fireworks so it is definatley a night to stay up for.
Renshaw's disqualification will be a major talking point after the Australian rider was thrown out of the race for repeatedly headbutting Julian Dean in the final kilometre in order to make space for Mark Cavendish in the sprint. With Dean pinning Renshaw (and therefore Cavendish) to the barriers, Renshaw repeatedly used his head to move Dean out of the way. Finally he was succesful and opened up a path for the Manx man to get through, but on review of the tape race officials were outraged and disqualified Renshaw. Personally, I think a disqualification is harsh and a relegation to last position on the stage would have sufficied. I question whether the same punishment would have been metred out to one of the glamour sprinters for a similar incicident. Renshaw may have paid the price for being simply a lead out man (I question whether a European would have recieved a similar punishment to be honest). In the end, the results worked, as once Cavendish found daylight he stormed away from rivals to take the stage, his third of this years Tour, and the 13th of his career.
As a result Cavendish is up to fourth in the points classification and now trails new leader Alessandro Pettachi by just 29 points. Pettachi took the jersey off Thor Hushovd's shoulders after the Norwegian could only manage 7th on the stage. He now leads the classification by 4 points and would have to be favoured to take the jersey in Paris now, especially given that Hushovd cannot seem to match it with the big guys in the sprints at the moment. Admittedly their are four big mountain stages that Pettachi must get over in the Pyrenees to get to Paris (and he has never finished the tour before), but he has shown his ability to last a three week tour in the Giro many times. Surely the Green Jersey is incentive enough to get him over the line. You would think Hushovd's best chacne now is to try and pinch some points in the intermediate sprints somewhere, while Cavendish will have to win in Revel and Paris, and hope his rivals slip up and drop big points if he is to take his first Green jersey.
Jerome Pineau increased his hold on the Polka Dot Jersey over Anthony Charteau to 2 points by picking up the last available point on the only climb of the day, the cat-4 Col de Cabre. With the peleton finishing together there was no change to the overall classification with Andy Schleck contiuing to hold onto both the Yellow and White Jersey's.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Alessandro Pettachi
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pineau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - The big boy's might come back out to play on Stage 12, a 210km roll from Bourg-de-Peage to Mende. The day finishes with the cat-2 climb of the Cote de la Croix-Neuve, a climb which Alberto Contador has already won on twice in Paris-Nice. Given that, and given that Contador still needs to make up time on his great rival Andy Schleck, it is hard to go past the Spaniard for the stage win. This may be only classified a medium mountains stage but there is sure to be fireworks so it is definatley a night to stay up for.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Stage 10 - Portugese Procession
While Stage 10, a 179km journey from Chambery to Gap contained the back-end of the Alps, in reality it was a transitional day come a day early. Portugal's Sergio Paulinho was the winning member of the surviving breakaway, defeating Vasil Kiryienka in a photo finish, with Dries Devenyns third some 90 seconds back. With the peleton finishing together there was no change to the overall standings.
The peleton decided to take it easy on Bastille Day following yesterday's fireworks on the Madeleine, and allowed a break of 6 lucky riders to finish the day almost 15 minutes ahead. The man who made the most of that opportunity was Sergio Paulinho, who counter-attacked the break with Vasil Kiriyienka some 14km from the finish, before defeating that man by just centimetres in the final sprint to deliver Portugal its first stage victory in over 20 years. The best the French could do on the national day was a fourth from Pierre Rolland, who made it into the days break but missed the vital attack in the closing kilometres. The peleton leisurely rolled into town some 14 minutes later, around 30 minutes after the time the stage was expected to end.
As a prelude to the next two day's, the Sprinters renewed their battle with a contest for 9th place which was won by Mark Cavendish from Alessandro Pettachi and Thor Hushovd. As a result Hushovd's lead in the Green Jersey competition has been cut to 7 points. There was however a change in the Polka Dot Jersey which moved from the shoulders of Anthony Charteau back to Jerome Pineau after Pineau won the sprint for 7th place at the top of the days first climb, the cat-1 Cote de Laffrey. As a result he has a 1 point lead in the classification, competition for which will now go on a mini-hiatus until the Pyrenees.
With the peleton finishing as a bunch there was no change in either the overall or youth classifications with Andy Schleck holding on to both teh Yellow and White Jerseys.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pineau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Tonight sees the race for the Green Jersey resume in Stage 11, a 185km descent from Sisteron to Bour-les-Valence. And with a breakaway succeeding in Stage 10, and only two real sprint stages left before Paris, it will be hard to see the teams of the sprinters not wanting to close down any breaks here. Given that, and with the recent form he has shown, it is almost impossible to go past Mark Cavendish getting his third stage win of this years Tour here.
The peleton decided to take it easy on Bastille Day following yesterday's fireworks on the Madeleine, and allowed a break of 6 lucky riders to finish the day almost 15 minutes ahead. The man who made the most of that opportunity was Sergio Paulinho, who counter-attacked the break with Vasil Kiriyienka some 14km from the finish, before defeating that man by just centimetres in the final sprint to deliver Portugal its first stage victory in over 20 years. The best the French could do on the national day was a fourth from Pierre Rolland, who made it into the days break but missed the vital attack in the closing kilometres. The peleton leisurely rolled into town some 14 minutes later, around 30 minutes after the time the stage was expected to end.
As a prelude to the next two day's, the Sprinters renewed their battle with a contest for 9th place which was won by Mark Cavendish from Alessandro Pettachi and Thor Hushovd. As a result Hushovd's lead in the Green Jersey competition has been cut to 7 points. There was however a change in the Polka Dot Jersey which moved from the shoulders of Anthony Charteau back to Jerome Pineau after Pineau won the sprint for 7th place at the top of the days first climb, the cat-1 Cote de Laffrey. As a result he has a 1 point lead in the classification, competition for which will now go on a mini-hiatus until the Pyrenees.
With the peleton finishing as a bunch there was no change in either the overall or youth classifications with Andy Schleck holding on to both teh Yellow and White Jerseys.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pineau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Tonight sees the race for the Green Jersey resume in Stage 11, a 185km descent from Sisteron to Bour-les-Valence. And with a breakaway succeeding in Stage 10, and only two real sprint stages left before Paris, it will be hard to see the teams of the sprinters not wanting to close down any breaks here. Given that, and with the recent form he has shown, it is almost impossible to go past Mark Cavendish getting his third stage win of this years Tour here.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Stage 9 - Cadel Implodes On The Madeleine
"As they hugged, Evans dropped his head into Santambrogio's chest and cried."
One man soap opera Cadel Evans imploded on the final climb of the Col de la Madeleine on Stage 9 overnight, a 204kmn tough grind from Morzine (Avoriaz) to Saint Jean de Maurienne. (And to think some muppets were thinking of betting on this guy for the overall pre-stage! You know who you are! Ha!) After losing 8 minutes to the stage winner on the day, and forfeiting his yellow jersey, Evans collapsed into the arms of his teammates in tears after crossing the finish line, and revealed he had been riding the entire stage with a broken elbow. Honestly, the story lines surrounding Evans are so fantastical that not even a propaganda master like Joseph Goebels could come up with better plot lines.
Outside of the melodrama that was Cadel, Sandy Casar recorded the second stage victory of his career outsprinting his more fancied breakaway companions Luis Leon Sanchez and Damiano Cunego for the win. The breakaway was caught in the final kilometre by Andy Schleck, and Alberto Contador, who put time into all their GC rivals, with Schleck inheriting the Yellow Jersey from Evans.
But the stage will always be remembered from the monumental collapse from Evans to lose the Yellow Jersey, which was sickeningly exquisite in its beauty. Early on the climb of the Madeleine Evans was unhitched from the elite group. That was all the heads of state needed to attack. The pressure went on up the front and Evans had no response. He continually lost time and by the end of the day had lost 8 minutes to Schleck and Contador, and all hope of finishing on the podium at this years Tour. Up front, the repeated attacks from Schleck near the top of the Madeline put everyone into difficulty except Contador, who followed the Luxembourgers wheel everywhere. After a number of powerful attempts to drop the Spaniard, the two men decided on a temporary truce, and chose to work together to put time into every other rider on the general classification. This they achieved beautifully, and the remained ahead of their GC companions on the descent into the finish, finally catching the days break in the final kilometre. The effort told though and they were no match for Casar, Sanchez (LL), or Cunego in the final sprint. However, they put a minute into their closer rival in Samuel Sanchez and at least two minutes into everyone else to rise to one and two on GC following Evans collapse. Schleck inherits the Yellow Jersey for the first time in his career, and leads Contador by 41 seconds. They will finish 1-2 in Paris barring disaster, and it is just a matter of in which order. The battle for the third podium position is well and truly on now with Sammy Sanchez currently in third following a fine ride over night. However, he will be concerned that the silent assassin Denis Menchov is in 4th, only 13 seconds in arrears.
The Polka Dot Jersey also changed hands overnight, and passed to another Frenchman Anthony Charteau, who grabbed the lead in the King of The Mountains classification by leading the field over the Madeleine. Despite being part of the days breakaway and leading the field over three of the four mountains Jerome Pineau lost the jersey despite being tied on points with Charteau (the count back is based on number of HC mountains won - Charteau 1 - Pinaeau 0). The two lead another Frenchman, veteran Christophe Moreau who is third some 23 points back. But with a stack of mountains to come in the Pyrenees this stage is very much still up for grabs.
Thor Hushovd extended his lead in the Green Jersey competition by 6 points by getting into the early break and taking the first intermediate sprint point on the day. He now leads Alessandro Pettachi by 10 points with this competition likely to hot up again in some of the transitional stages this week. As well as receiving the Yellow Jersey, Andy Schleck padded his lead in the White Jersey competition for best young rider to over 4 minutes from Roman Kreuziger.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Anthony Charteau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Bastille Day! Stage 10 is an intriguing medium/high mountains stage over 179km from Chambery to Gap, culminating in the descent of the Rochette which provided one of the most immortal images in Tour history in 2003 when Joseba Beloki hit the tarmac causing Lance Armstrong to ride across a field, unclip, jump a ditch, and carry on (Lance Armstrong you are a star!). After a brutal climb last night I think Contador and Schleck may take it a little easier today and a may be a chance for another breakaway victory. The French would love to win on their national day so I might tip little Tommy Voeckler for the win and hope he can get over the cat-2 climb at the end of the stage.
One man soap opera Cadel Evans imploded on the final climb of the Col de la Madeleine on Stage 9 overnight, a 204kmn tough grind from Morzine (Avoriaz) to Saint Jean de Maurienne. (And to think some muppets were thinking of betting on this guy for the overall pre-stage! You know who you are! Ha!) After losing 8 minutes to the stage winner on the day, and forfeiting his yellow jersey, Evans collapsed into the arms of his teammates in tears after crossing the finish line, and revealed he had been riding the entire stage with a broken elbow. Honestly, the story lines surrounding Evans are so fantastical that not even a propaganda master like Joseph Goebels could come up with better plot lines.
Outside of the melodrama that was Cadel, Sandy Casar recorded the second stage victory of his career outsprinting his more fancied breakaway companions Luis Leon Sanchez and Damiano Cunego for the win. The breakaway was caught in the final kilometre by Andy Schleck, and Alberto Contador, who put time into all their GC rivals, with Schleck inheriting the Yellow Jersey from Evans.
But the stage will always be remembered from the monumental collapse from Evans to lose the Yellow Jersey, which was sickeningly exquisite in its beauty. Early on the climb of the Madeleine Evans was unhitched from the elite group. That was all the heads of state needed to attack. The pressure went on up the front and Evans had no response. He continually lost time and by the end of the day had lost 8 minutes to Schleck and Contador, and all hope of finishing on the podium at this years Tour. Up front, the repeated attacks from Schleck near the top of the Madeline put everyone into difficulty except Contador, who followed the Luxembourgers wheel everywhere. After a number of powerful attempts to drop the Spaniard, the two men decided on a temporary truce, and chose to work together to put time into every other rider on the general classification. This they achieved beautifully, and the remained ahead of their GC companions on the descent into the finish, finally catching the days break in the final kilometre. The effort told though and they were no match for Casar, Sanchez (LL), or Cunego in the final sprint. However, they put a minute into their closer rival in Samuel Sanchez and at least two minutes into everyone else to rise to one and two on GC following Evans collapse. Schleck inherits the Yellow Jersey for the first time in his career, and leads Contador by 41 seconds. They will finish 1-2 in Paris barring disaster, and it is just a matter of in which order. The battle for the third podium position is well and truly on now with Sammy Sanchez currently in third following a fine ride over night. However, he will be concerned that the silent assassin Denis Menchov is in 4th, only 13 seconds in arrears.
The Polka Dot Jersey also changed hands overnight, and passed to another Frenchman Anthony Charteau, who grabbed the lead in the King of The Mountains classification by leading the field over the Madeleine. Despite being part of the days breakaway and leading the field over three of the four mountains Jerome Pineau lost the jersey despite being tied on points with Charteau (the count back is based on number of HC mountains won - Charteau 1 - Pinaeau 0). The two lead another Frenchman, veteran Christophe Moreau who is third some 23 points back. But with a stack of mountains to come in the Pyrenees this stage is very much still up for grabs.
Thor Hushovd extended his lead in the Green Jersey competition by 6 points by getting into the early break and taking the first intermediate sprint point on the day. He now leads Alessandro Pettachi by 10 points with this competition likely to hot up again in some of the transitional stages this week. As well as receiving the Yellow Jersey, Andy Schleck padded his lead in the White Jersey competition for best young rider to over 4 minutes from Roman Kreuziger.
Yellow Jersey - Andy Schleck
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Anthony Charteau
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Bastille Day! Stage 10 is an intriguing medium/high mountains stage over 179km from Chambery to Gap, culminating in the descent of the Rochette which provided one of the most immortal images in Tour history in 2003 when Joseba Beloki hit the tarmac causing Lance Armstrong to ride across a field, unclip, jump a ditch, and carry on (Lance Armstrong you are a star!). After a brutal climb last night I think Contador and Schleck may take it a little easier today and a may be a chance for another breakaway victory. The French would love to win on their national day so I might tip little Tommy Voeckler for the win and hope he can get over the cat-2 climb at the end of the stage.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Stage 8 - Arrivederci Armstrong
Stage 8 finally saw the 2010 Tour turned on its head. The 189km struggle from Station des Rousses to Morzine (Avoriaz) saw Andy Schleck get the win, Cadel Evans take the Yellow Jersey, and Lance Armstrong's quest for an 8th title go up in smoke as he lost almost 12 minutes on the stage.
Despite the thrilling finish the big news of the day was the complete collapse of Lance Armstrong who suffered three crashes, and a horrible day on the bike to finish 11:45 behind stage winner Andy Schleck, in 61st place. As a result of his earlier losses on the cobbles of Norther France Armstrong is over 13 minutes in arears of the new race leader Cadel Evans and has dropped to 39th in the overall classification. His shot at winning the 2010 Tour has totally dissapeared and Armstrong will now have to forefeit his team lead to fellow American Levi Leipheimer who sits in 8th position overall. Still, the Texan has vowed to finish the race to end what will surely be his last tour in Paris. Armstrong's race collapsed when he hit the deck just before the ascent of the penultimate cat-1 climb of the Col de la Ramaz. The majority of the Radioshack team dropped back to assist Armstrong back up to the peleton, and while they rejoined just before the start of the climb the effort clearly told on the 38 year old who was immediately put into difficutly by the infernal pace set by Astana. By the top of the Ramaz he was a minute behind the main group of GC contenders but after suffering a silly crash at Les Gets Armstrong totally compounded on the climb to Morzine. He could barely lift his feet on the pedals and by the summit had lost almost 12 minutes to the big men of the tour.
Just as enthralling as Armstrong's capitulation was the race for the Yellow Jersey up ahead. With Sylvain Chavanel dropped on the Ramaz (he would lose almost 12 minutes by the end) the race to be the new leader hotted up with Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, and Alberto Contador all in with a host. Evans had the advantage with a 30 second lead over his rivals who marked each other from within an elite group of 10 or so riders that stayed together until the final two kilometres. It was then, after a flurry of attacks, that Andy Schleck jumped, leaving Evans and (very suprisingly!) Contador in his wake. The only man that could match him was the Olympic Champion Samuel Sanchez, and the two waged a man-on-man struggle for the final kilometre before Schleck finally overcame Sanchez right on the line to take the stage victory. Their gap to the Evans and Contador group was only 10 seconds in the end but for the first time in a couple of years at the tour Contador showed weakness on a mountain top finish, when he was unable to match the explosive bursts of Schleck and Sanchez. The gap was not enough for Schleck to grab the jersey off Evans who takes the race lead by 20 seconds, with Contador 1 minute back in third. The elite group now occupy the top 10 spots on the GC and looking down the list the top 20 is likely to be set pretty much in stone from here on in. Although Contador showed weakness at the finish there are still a time trial and plenty of mountains to come for him to overturn his current deficits. And at $1.70 to win the tour now I think he looks a good bet. Schleck's performance has seen him shorten to as much as $3.40 but I think he has been over bet at that price given his disgraceful performance against the clock in the prologue. Evans on the other hand will enjoy his current position with his rivals having to attack him from here on in to take the jersey off his shoulders.
Despite the apperance of the first big mountains in this years tour there was no real movement at the top of the King Of The Mountains competition with Jerome Pinault retaining the Polka Dot Jersey without adding to his overnight total. Similarly, with the sprinters well back in the Groupetto there was no change in the Points Classification with Thor Hushovd retaining his Green Jersey. Andy Schleck's win on the stage saw him increase his lead in the White Jersey competition to 1:25 over Roman Kreuizger.
Yellow Jersey - Cadel Evans
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pinault
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Tonight marks the first rest day so plenty of time to catch some sleep for those who watched this mornings atrocious World Cup final.
Prices courtesy of Betfair.
Despite the thrilling finish the big news of the day was the complete collapse of Lance Armstrong who suffered three crashes, and a horrible day on the bike to finish 11:45 behind stage winner Andy Schleck, in 61st place. As a result of his earlier losses on the cobbles of Norther France Armstrong is over 13 minutes in arears of the new race leader Cadel Evans and has dropped to 39th in the overall classification. His shot at winning the 2010 Tour has totally dissapeared and Armstrong will now have to forefeit his team lead to fellow American Levi Leipheimer who sits in 8th position overall. Still, the Texan has vowed to finish the race to end what will surely be his last tour in Paris. Armstrong's race collapsed when he hit the deck just before the ascent of the penultimate cat-1 climb of the Col de la Ramaz. The majority of the Radioshack team dropped back to assist Armstrong back up to the peleton, and while they rejoined just before the start of the climb the effort clearly told on the 38 year old who was immediately put into difficutly by the infernal pace set by Astana. By the top of the Ramaz he was a minute behind the main group of GC contenders but after suffering a silly crash at Les Gets Armstrong totally compounded on the climb to Morzine. He could barely lift his feet on the pedals and by the summit had lost almost 12 minutes to the big men of the tour.
Just as enthralling as Armstrong's capitulation was the race for the Yellow Jersey up ahead. With Sylvain Chavanel dropped on the Ramaz (he would lose almost 12 minutes by the end) the race to be the new leader hotted up with Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck, and Alberto Contador all in with a host. Evans had the advantage with a 30 second lead over his rivals who marked each other from within an elite group of 10 or so riders that stayed together until the final two kilometres. It was then, after a flurry of attacks, that Andy Schleck jumped, leaving Evans and (very suprisingly!) Contador in his wake. The only man that could match him was the Olympic Champion Samuel Sanchez, and the two waged a man-on-man struggle for the final kilometre before Schleck finally overcame Sanchez right on the line to take the stage victory. Their gap to the Evans and Contador group was only 10 seconds in the end but for the first time in a couple of years at the tour Contador showed weakness on a mountain top finish, when he was unable to match the explosive bursts of Schleck and Sanchez. The gap was not enough for Schleck to grab the jersey off Evans who takes the race lead by 20 seconds, with Contador 1 minute back in third. The elite group now occupy the top 10 spots on the GC and looking down the list the top 20 is likely to be set pretty much in stone from here on in. Although Contador showed weakness at the finish there are still a time trial and plenty of mountains to come for him to overturn his current deficits. And at $1.70 to win the tour now I think he looks a good bet. Schleck's performance has seen him shorten to as much as $3.40 but I think he has been over bet at that price given his disgraceful performance against the clock in the prologue. Evans on the other hand will enjoy his current position with his rivals having to attack him from here on in to take the jersey off his shoulders.
Despite the apperance of the first big mountains in this years tour there was no real movement at the top of the King Of The Mountains competition with Jerome Pinault retaining the Polka Dot Jersey without adding to his overnight total. Similarly, with the sprinters well back in the Groupetto there was no change in the Points Classification with Thor Hushovd retaining his Green Jersey. Andy Schleck's win on the stage saw him increase his lead in the White Jersey competition to 1:25 over Roman Kreuizger.
Yellow Jersey - Cadel Evans
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pinault
White Jersey - Andy Schleck
Tonight's Stage - Tonight marks the first rest day so plenty of time to catch some sleep for those who watched this mornings atrocious World Cup final.
Prices courtesy of Betfair.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Stage 7 - Redemption For Chavanel
On a Tour of doubles so far Sylvain Chavanel again pulled a rabbit out of the hat, surviving solo from a breakaway to take the stage win and regain the Yellow Jersey following Stage 7, a 165km trek over medium mountains from Tournus to Station des Rousses. Chavanel took the victory from his fellow breakaway companions Rafaeal Valls Ferri and Juan Manuel Garate who finished second and third respectively. The first taste of the mountains saw the peleton split apart, and while this shook up the overall classification to some extent almost all of the big GC riders finished in the leading bunch.
But the plaudits on the day will definatley go to Chavanel who first counter-attacked to join the leading breakaway before attacking his companions on the final climb to power away to his second solo victory of this tour, this time by also a minute. And with Fabian Cancellara cracking big time on the final ascent of the Cote de Lamoura (he had lost over 14 minutes by the end of the day!) there was a double reward on offer for Chavanel, as he took the Yellow Jersey for the second time. He now holds a lead of almost one and half minutes over Australian Cadel Evans following Cancellara's capitulation. It will take a big effort to hold onto the jersey tomorrow however, as the peleton tackles the first cat-1 climbs of this years Tour. Still, no one deserves to hold onto the Jersey more than Chavanel who has twice braved solo attacks to win himself the golden fleece. Chavanel was one of many riders who were able to take advantage of the peleton's decision to let the break stay away on the stage with fellow placegetters Rafael Valls Ferrri and Juan Manuel Garate taking advantage of their freedome on the day.
The three cat-2 climbs in the last 60km seperated the men from the boys in the peleton with only an elite group of around 30 or so together by the end. The big loser on the day was Cancellara who, after doing a pile of work over the first week, cracked on the final climb of the day and eventually finished 14 minutes back. As a result Cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedal are up to second and third overall trailing Chavanel by around 1:30, after Geriant Thomas also had a tough day in the saddle - losing over five minutes to the stage winner. He has forfeited his White Jersey to Andy Schleck (up to fourth overall), and Schleck will now likely be wearing it all the way to Paris. His leads the classification by just over a minute from young Czech star Roman Kreuziger. The only real loser for the main top 10 contenders was Andreas Kloden who lost four minutes to Chavanel and now sits about 5 minutes of the rest of the main favourites on GC.
Jerome Pinault increased his lead in the King Of The Mountains competition to 8 points over teammate Chavanel. Pinault cleverly put himself in the days break and led over all but the last climb of the day to tighten his grip on the Polka Dot Jersey. And with Chavanel unlikely to contest the jersey he has a virtual 16 point lead over his nearest challenger Mathieu Pergot. However, this classification could get a shake up tonight with two cat-1 climbs on the cards. Pinault may be looking for the early break again in order to boost his lead in the classification.
With plenty of climbs on the cards there was change in the race for the Green Jersey with Thor Hushovd still holding a slender 4 point lead over Alessandro Pettachi.
Yellow Jersey - Sylvain Chavanel
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pinault
White Jersey - Andy Shleck
Tonight's Stage - Tonight sees the first real rendezvous of the 2010 Tour with the 189 km route from Station des Rousses to Morzine (Avoriaz). The route concludes with the two biggest climbs of the race so far in the form of the cat 1 ascents of the Col de La Ramaz and the final finishing climb to Morzine. Given this is one of few summit finishers on the parcours this year, and that Alberto Contador currently trails rivals like Cadel Evans and Andy Shleck by over a minute, I expect the Spaniard to stamp his mark on this years Tour with a big win tonight.
But the plaudits on the day will definatley go to Chavanel who first counter-attacked to join the leading breakaway before attacking his companions on the final climb to power away to his second solo victory of this tour, this time by also a minute. And with Fabian Cancellara cracking big time on the final ascent of the Cote de Lamoura (he had lost over 14 minutes by the end of the day!) there was a double reward on offer for Chavanel, as he took the Yellow Jersey for the second time. He now holds a lead of almost one and half minutes over Australian Cadel Evans following Cancellara's capitulation. It will take a big effort to hold onto the jersey tomorrow however, as the peleton tackles the first cat-1 climbs of this years Tour. Still, no one deserves to hold onto the Jersey more than Chavanel who has twice braved solo attacks to win himself the golden fleece. Chavanel was one of many riders who were able to take advantage of the peleton's decision to let the break stay away on the stage with fellow placegetters Rafael Valls Ferrri and Juan Manuel Garate taking advantage of their freedome on the day.
The three cat-2 climbs in the last 60km seperated the men from the boys in the peleton with only an elite group of around 30 or so together by the end. The big loser on the day was Cancellara who, after doing a pile of work over the first week, cracked on the final climb of the day and eventually finished 14 minutes back. As a result Cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedal are up to second and third overall trailing Chavanel by around 1:30, after Geriant Thomas also had a tough day in the saddle - losing over five minutes to the stage winner. He has forfeited his White Jersey to Andy Schleck (up to fourth overall), and Schleck will now likely be wearing it all the way to Paris. His leads the classification by just over a minute from young Czech star Roman Kreuziger. The only real loser for the main top 10 contenders was Andreas Kloden who lost four minutes to Chavanel and now sits about 5 minutes of the rest of the main favourites on GC.
Jerome Pinault increased his lead in the King Of The Mountains competition to 8 points over teammate Chavanel. Pinault cleverly put himself in the days break and led over all but the last climb of the day to tighten his grip on the Polka Dot Jersey. And with Chavanel unlikely to contest the jersey he has a virtual 16 point lead over his nearest challenger Mathieu Pergot. However, this classification could get a shake up tonight with two cat-1 climbs on the cards. Pinault may be looking for the early break again in order to boost his lead in the classification.
With plenty of climbs on the cards there was change in the race for the Green Jersey with Thor Hushovd still holding a slender 4 point lead over Alessandro Pettachi.
Yellow Jersey - Sylvain Chavanel
Green Jersey - Thor Hushovd
Polka Dot Jersey - Jerome Pinault
White Jersey - Andy Shleck
Tonight's Stage - Tonight sees the first real rendezvous of the 2010 Tour with the 189 km route from Station des Rousses to Morzine (Avoriaz). The route concludes with the two biggest climbs of the race so far in the form of the cat 1 ascents of the Col de La Ramaz and the final finishing climb to Morzine. Given this is one of few summit finishers on the parcours this year, and that Alberto Contador currently trails rivals like Cadel Evans and Andy Shleck by over a minute, I expect the Spaniard to stamp his mark on this years Tour with a big win tonight.
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