Tour de France – Stage 3 Wrap-up

Posted on July 6, 2009 by

Let the conspiracy theories begin!

When the peloton split with about 30km left in Stage 3, Lance Armstrong made his statement: This team is mine.

With Haimar Zubeldia and Yaroslav Popovych working with Columbia to pull the 27-rider lead group further and further up the road, Lance could probably see the yellow jersey beckoning him following tomorrow’s Team Time Trial in Montpellier.

He finished the stage in 19th place, and ironically now sits 19 seconds ahead of his teammate—the team “leader”, according to DS Johan Bruyneel—Alberto Contador on GC. Yes, the Tour is a 3-week race; and yes, many things can happen from one day to the next. 19 seconds may seem like only a bit of time, but the statement speaks much louder than the standings.

Lance Armstrong will not concede leadership of his team—to anyone.

Tomorrow will certainly be interesting. How will the team react? How cohesive will they ride? Will Contador or someone else actually sprint against Lance to be the first rider over the line? If there’s a flat or mechanical, will the entire team wait?

Other questions remain to be answered, especially: who made the decision to work with Columbia? Lance? Johan? Maybe the post-race comments will make things clearer.

And speaking of Johan, he’s now fully enmeshed in the toughest Tour of his career—and it’s only the 3rd day. He’ll need to be at his best tonight if he hopes to keep this team together.

I’d love to be a fly on the massage table at the Astana hotel tonight.

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Tour de France – Stage 21 Wrap-up

Posted on July 26, 2009 by

To be honest, the final stage of the Tour de France is always a bit of a let-down for me. Not because of the racing, but because it means the end of the race…like going to bed after your birthday party or on the night before school starts again…

We’ll have more wrap-up throughout the week, but for now, one thought:

Mark Cavendish, despite all his shenanigans, is truly in a class above the rest. Hats-off to his team too, for getting him where he needs to be when he needs to be there. Flying under the flamme rouge for the final time today, George Hincapie completely took control of the sprint, swinging left, usurping Garmin’s lead-out train, and getting his team to the front. Mark Renshaw took all the risks through the final bend, pulling Cavendish free, lengths ahead, and then sprinting to 2nd place on the day.

One complaint: the camera angle. Those by-the-side shots look great in the Olympics, but in cycling, I want to see it all unfold before me. Maybe we should blame Cavendish and his team for simply leaving everyone else out of the frame?

Thank you to everyone for checking-in–especially those of you who have left comments for the rest of us to enjoy!

Please keep returning for more thoughts, quips, and whatever else we think-up next!

Enjoy your Sunday!

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Tour de France – Stage 20 Wrap-up

Posted on July 25, 2009 by

If I told you before the Tour started that a Rabobank rider would win on Ventoux, would you have thought it would be Juan Manuel Garate? Didn’t think so. But he did, and in doing so salvaged what has to be considered a disappointing Tour for the oranje.

Tactics and wind certainly took their toll today, effectively negating the chance to see one of the race’s elite taking the win. But we did see some great racing, racing that produced the true champions of the 2009 Tour de France.

When it was all said and done, the GC remained largely unchanged. The podium remains intact, despite the best efforts of Andy Schleck to have his brother Frank to join him. Lance Armstrong was smart and efficient; giving just what was necessary to follow the men who threatened his 3rd place. He’ll need to offer a pat on the back to Alberto Contador, who rode a perfect race for his teammates. Contador needed to follow Andy Schleck as he was 2nd place on GC; but he rode strictly in the Luxembourger’s wheel, only covering the move, looking back constantly to see where his teammates were.

Bradley Wiggins rode a consistent and courageous climb to retain his 4th place—as did Christian Vande Velde who held his 8th overall. Vincenzo Nibali rode a fabulous race, at one time bridging alone to Andy Schleck and Contador. Were it not for Schleck waiting for his brother’s chase group, Nibali might have climbed higher on GC. His Liquigas teammate, Roman Kreuziger, finally found his climbing legs. His ride pulled him into 9th place overall, two spots behind his teammate. It’s not as high as we predicted, but it’s a terrific result nonetheless.

Earlier in the week, we wondered whether or not it would be wise for Silence to move it’s eggs into Jurgen Van Den Broek’s basket; his ride today proves the switch was wise. His final week was nothing short of brilliant; he’ll finish the race 15th overall.

And finally, chapeau’s-off to Christophe Le Mevel, whose gutsy ride kept him in the Top-10. He’ll be the darling of the le presse for the next few days, and gives the French yet another reason to celebrate a terrific Tour.

Other surprises? We really thought Carlos Sastre would ride with the favorites today, ultimately taking the win. On the other hand, it was a pleasure to see Franco Pellizzotti do his polka dot jersey proud by hanging with the favorites and at one point looking like he would take the win.

And guess who finished next to Cadel Evans a bit more than 5 minutes back? George Hincapie! Not sure about which rider that says more at this point. But George will finish the race 19th overall–with a collarbone that’s rumored to be broken–11 spots ahead of Cadel.

And last, but not least—have you ever seen so many people on one mountain? I heard reports of anywhere from 500,000 to 700,000!

Le Géant de Provence has spoken; now it’s your turn! Share your comments below.

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Tour de France – Stage 2 Wrap-up

Posted on July 6, 2009 by

Mark Renshaw deserves a large share of the credit for Cavendish’s stage win. His teammates laid the groundwork with terrific placement coming into the red kite, but he literally rode Garmin’s Tyler Farrar off of Cavendish’s wheel. Cavendish was lucky to hang-on himself! One can’t help but wonder if one day Renshaw will get a chance to take a win. With a few more days like Stage 2, it will be hard to deny him the opportunity.

That said, it was great to see Garmin’s organization for the sprint. Farrar was perfectly placed for the win; he seemed to have a good complement of riders working on his behalf. Columbia was just too strong though.

Tom Boonen popped-in with a few km left to go, but was conspicuously absent from the final romp to the line. It seems like the time off has affected the cohesion of his lead-out, otherwise he might have been better placed to avoid a crash before the line. Could Stage 3 be his day?

Frank Schleck can’t be feeling too confident right now. He hit the deck again and then was almost hit by his team car while trying to get back to the group. While this doesn’t bode well for Frank, it does perhaps play into Andy’s favor by taking him one step closer to “undisputed leader” status within Saxo Bank. Andy rode a respectable TT and must be still be considered with the rest of the GC favorites.

And finally, did you notice that an Euskaltel rider was involved in just about every crash? They’re beginning to remind us of Kelme.

Stage 3 is even flatter than Stage 2. Expect another long, hot day for the riders ending in a sprint. Will Cavendish add to his total? Will Boonen win one for Belgium? And what about Thor and HH from Cervelo?

Share your comments with the rest of us.

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Tour de France – Stage 19 Wrap-up

Posted on July 24, 2009 by

Today’s stage finished a bit ahead of schedule; the riders must want to rest-up for tomorrow’s slog up Mont Ventoux. If you caught it, here’s what you might have noticed:

1. Did you notice Carlos Sastre in a small group off the back of the peloton today? Look for him to win tomorrow; he has one of the fiercest uphill accelerations in the race and he has enough time between himself and the yellow jersey to warrant a longer leash.

2. Did you notice the Liquigas riders with him? Could tomorrow be a day for Roman Kreuziger? Could Roman at least partially validate Pavé’s pre-Tour expectations with a win on Ventoux?

3. Did you notice the rider (Rabobank?) hop the grassy roundabout to keep his position near the front of the peloton with 1.3km left? I think it was Freire; he’s been known to make such moves in the past.

4. Did you notice Greg Van Avermaet coming home in 4th place? Too little, too late for the Silence-Lotto rider.

5. Did you notice Lance Armstrong stealing 4 seconds over the other GC men? Will someone be kicking himself this time tomorrow?

6. And finally, did you notice the new Shimano 10-tooth cog on Cavendish’s bike? Must be a prototype or something—he clearly has a gear the others don’t. He won’t get the green he so desires (see below), but will 6 stage wins for Mark be a reality come Paris?

What about you? What did you notice? Share your comments—and predictions for tomorrow—below.

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Tour de France – Stage 18 Wrap-up

Posted on July 23, 2009 by

Alberto Contador has all but won the 2009 Tour de France with one of the most dominant individual time trial performances by a maillot jaune since his current teammate, Lance Armstrong.

Going into the day, it was assumed that Contador would do well, particularly against the other GC favorites. But winning the stage outright was not entirely expected—certainly not beating the likes of Fabian Cancellara.

It was statement that needed to be made though. With all of the talk surrounding his tactics, his relationship with his teammates, and the pending announcement from his current director and teammate, Contador clearly needed to remind everyone that the Tour de France is indeed a bike race where actions speak louder than words.

The pundits can say what they will, but it cannot be said that Contador is not a worthy champion. And no matter for whom he rides, he will go into the 2010 race as the overwhelming favorite. Furthermore, Contador’s win just might have done his disgruntled teammates a favor. By winning today and padding his already fat lead, Contador has given Armstrong and Kloden the room they need to try and move themselves up the GC and perhaps win the stage—all without doing damage (barring something catastrophic) to Contador’s status atop the podium.

So maybe, just maybe, Johan Bruyneel will buy Alberto a bottle of bubbly tonight since his performance today has given the team an opportunity to ride for the riders it obviously wanted to ride for in the first place.

It’s just too bad that the one who will actually win the Tour wasn’t one of them.

Other thoughts from today’s action:

1. Saturday’s biggest battle will be for 3rd place in Paris. Lance Armstrong, Bradley Wiggins, and Andreas Kloden are separated by a mere 13 seconds. Perhaps Contador will play the role of teammate, working to get one of his colleagues beside him on the top 3 steps? Could Andy Schleck and Wiggins both crack, giving Johan Bruyneel his dream of an Astana 1-2-3?

2. But Armstrong gave Wiggins some bulletin board material, making it quite clear that he doesn’t consider the Brit a threat on Ventoux. I wouldn’t be so sure, Tex. Yeah, you dropped Wiggo yesterday (Stage 17), but that was after a series of tough climbs. Saturday’s pretty much a one-trick pony—similar in structure to Arcalis—and Wiggins will be well-protected by a unified team. Wiggins clearly isn’t afraid to attack and Lance’s comments today will certainly be ringing through his ears. Did Lance speak too soon?

3. Here’s an assignment for you: when was the last time Armstrong didn’t finish in the Top-5 in an ITT? The Top-10? The Top-15? Can we take his claims of victory in the 2010 Tour seriously?

4. Vincenzo Nibali put in a disappointing performance today. He’s done well in ITT’s before; his lackluster effort today (26th, 2:05 behind) was certainly a surprise.

5. Christophe Moreau’s coming-on strong during the final week, finishing 9th today. Look for him to go for glory on Saturday up Ventoux. A win there would be a terrific send-off to retirement and the perfect way to cap a wonderful 3 weeks for France.

What about you? What are your thoughts? Share your comments below.

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