Lance Armstrong doet het komende seizoen niet mee aan de Giro d’Italia. In plaats daarvan zal hij uitkomen in de Ronde van Californië. De Texaan deed het afgelopen seizoen mee in de Ronde van Italië ter voorbereiding op zijn deelname aan de Tour de France.

Naast Armstrong zullen ook de Amerikaanse rijders Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie en David Zabriskie in de Giro ontbreken, meldt Wieler Update.

Zij kiezen net als Armstrong voor deelname aan de Ronde van Californië. Deze staat van 16 tot en met 23 mei op het programma.

Leipheimer won de ronde drie maal en is de titelverdediger.

Dit bericht verscheen eerder op NUsport.

Leipheimer kissed by two un-named Radio Shack employees. Just kidding.

When Lance Armstrong ended his 3 year retirement and signed with Astana, the biggest welcome came from Levi Leipheirmer. Armstrong, along with team manager Johan Bruyneel, returned the good vibes by signing Leipheimer to Radio Shack for two years.

The Astana roster is half empty and Alberto Contador looks more and more like an orphan in a yellow jersey. A Dickens character with tin cup out — “please sir, may I have some support riders?’ When has a two time tour winner appeared so lost and abandoned, so unsure of his future? At this rate, Astana won’t need a big hotel for the tour and dinner will be just Alberto and Vinokourov. What’s kazak for “pass the bolognese pasta?”

Playing Follow The Lance, Leipheimer was happy with the big move: ”The last two years of my career have been the best and that’s because of the team Johan [Bruyneel] assembled,” he said. “I still have the desire and passion to ride the bike. I feel like I’m still getting better.”

No doubt Lance Armstrong is having a bang up time dismantling the team of his chief rival Contador. It’s more fun than hanging with Matthew McConaughy or doing a bit part in Dodgeball. His famous remark that the pistelero had “a lot to learn” probably now includes career management. The immensely talented Spanish rider remains unsure who he will race for next year. Confident in the mountains, clue-less in negotiations.

Now, if Lance can just figure a way to de-stablize the Schleck brothers at Saxo Bank, an eigth tour win at age 39 is in the bag.

Traduzindo grosseiramente: Leadville 2010. Brother (mano!) qual a aposta? Um mês de salário seu na Team Radio Shack para a Fundação Livestrong?

Esse é o jeito que ele encontrou para divulgar que contrataram Levi Leitoso.

Anunciada a contratação de Levi Leitoso Leipheimer com a (Radio) The Shack, anunciou uma fonte da equipe.

Chris Horner é a próxima “vítima”, ainda não confirmada.

Já Hincapie, parece que já tem contrato assinado com outra equipe para 2010 e por isso não acompanhará o Cowboy.

Fonte: Velonews.

Ist place. So much more exciting than 2nd place.

The Alps look exactly like the Pyrenees.

Thru thirteen stages, the 2009 edition of the tour de France could be called the Tour Without Attacks. Day one in the  Alps, the 200km ride from Vittel to Colmar, looked strangely similar to the first day in the Pyrenees. In other worlds, nothing happened to change the overall standings. Heavy rains put a damper on attacks and team Astana, even without Levi Leipheimer and his broken wrist, rode a hard tempo that kept everything under control.

To use the classic cycling expression, nobody “turned a pedal in anger.” Maybe “turned in frustration” would be a better description. Carlos Sastre noted there are very few places to attack. Lance Armstrong rightly predicted that little would happen until Ventoux. Although Saxo Bank had scouted the stage 13 climbs, whatever aggressive tactics they had never materialized.

The attack-free strategy left the day with two big winners: The always smiling Rinaldo Nocentini of AG2R who kept his Maillot Jaune. And baby-faced Heinrich Haussler (Cervelo), who finally erased the string of  second places early in the year with a solo victory. After dropping Sylvain Chavenel (Quickstep) a long way out, Haussler showed his good form, pulling away and winning easy. The soaked peloton dragged themselves in almost seven minutes later.

For Armstrong it was perfect weather and a predictable outcome. A rider who excels in miserable conditions, he looked around and saw a soaked Andy Schleck in no mood to attack and losing morale and opportunities. Carlos Sastre probably wished he was riding in the hot sun of the Vuelta instead of the lashing rain. Christian Vande Velde and Bradley Wiggins rode strongly for Garmin but were content to travel with Astana.

Lance has always been a lucky rider and the script for this tour favors his age and experience. The fewer the attacks, the more gas he saves for the crucial final week. If you’re almost 38 and no one’s forced you into the red zone for two weeks, that’s a dream situation. No matter how dull it is for the spectators.

There’s a jersey awarded each stage for the for Most Aggressive Rider. The Tour organizers could certainly have handed out a hundred for Most Passive Peloton.

Sad, sad day for Levi Leipheimer who was forced to non-start this morning with a wrist broken in the second to last turn in the finish at Vittel yesterday. It was such a minor dust-up, that the announcers figured everyone was OK and even Leipheimer declared his wrist sore but unbroken yesterday. The news today though was much more disappointing for the Astana rider in 4th place overall at the start of the day. A screw in his wrist and out of the race.

Levi was riding beautifully and has shown that he can finish strong as other riders begin to fatigue in the late stages. Astana will miss Levi sorely and have to rely on Kloden and others to protect the twin-headed beast….

With two surges, Sörensen escapes first the break then from his partner in crime Calzati to take the win in Vittel.

The race started slowly today with a few break attempts but nothing sticking.  Unusually, the full sprint points were still up for grabs for the first intermediate sprint.   Cavendish took the first sprint over Hushovd in the dash for the line.  By successfully contesting the first intermediate sprint at 32km, Cavendish clearly confirmed his intent to go for Green.  As a consequence he also is agreeing to do 6 mountain stages and a TT.  For a sprinter it is not something to signup for lightly.

• Cavendish – 6 points,
• Hushovd – 4 points
• Casar – 2 points

A break formed at 75km included Lefevre, Calzati and Pellizotti, as well as Markus Fothen, Pauriol and Martinez.  Chasing to get on were Avermaet, Sörensen, Freire, Mevel and Ignatiev.  Of the chasers, only Sörensen cleared the gap to joint the break at 83km and so there were seven.  A group this size and strength certainly had a chance to hold off the peloton.  The rest of the sprint points were rendered moot as the break would eat them up.  On the other hand, the Pellizotti/Martinez KOM battle came front and center.

The gap held steady grew steadily too as much as 4:16.  At the Grands-Bois climb (2.3km at 5%) it’s Pellizotti followed by Martinez. Just 6.5 km later, Pellizotti topped Morlaix climb (2.1km at 4.2%) ahead of Martinez again. Martinez lead over Pellizotti was still 18 points.  On the final climb of the day, Bourmont climb (0.8km at 11.1%), It was Pellizotti again over Martinez.  The points were Pellizotti 71 to Martinez at 88.

With 40km of flat remaining, the sprint teams were likely thinking they should rope this group in to take the stage.  With a 3:30 gap and seven strong riders in the front their work was cut out.  The gap actually grew to 3:50 over the next 20km answering the question of a chase.  Someone in the break was going to take the stage.

At the 20km mark it was the 2006 stage winner, Calzati, who jumped with the veteran Sörensen following close behind.  The lead pair had 20 seconds quickly and 5 minutes on the peloton which was resigned to roll in behind the breaks.  At 15km the gap of the two over the 5 man chase was a tenuous 18 seconds. Sörensen is burying himself to hold on to a diminishing lead in to the 5km banner.  It was then that he decided to jump on Calzati quickly kicking the gap back up to 23 seconds! The fight was out of the chase and Sörensen walked away with the stage.

The chase came in 48 seconds later with Lefevre and Pellizotti, taking 2^nd and 3^rd respectively.  The peloton rolled in a comfortable 6 minutes back with Cavendish taking the top of the few remaining sprint points extending his lead over Hushovd a bit further.

On the daily podium today, Sörensen was heard humming a tune as he stepped up on the top spot.  It was later discovered to be an American classic…

There was no change to the GC today.  Leipheimer and Klöden hit the deck on the run in to the finish.  It didn’t look like there was any damage of consequence.  In that they were within the 3km safe zone, neither would lose time at the finish.

Pellizotti continues to demonstrate strength, which doesn’t bode well to Martinez. The Polka Dot Jersey competition is shaping up to be a highly contested prize.

Tomorrow brings the first of a string of mountain stages that calumniate with the Stage 20 climb up the Ventoux.  With so much ahead, this year’s race won’t be decided anytime soon.

Stage 12 Map

Stage 12 Profile

Stage 12 Results

1           Nicki Sörensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank                    4:52:24
2          Laurent Lefevre (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom          0:00:48
3          Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas
4          Marcus Fothen (Ger) Team Milram
5          Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
6          Sylvain Calzati (Fra) Agritubel
7          Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne          0:01:33
8          Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC          0:05:58
9          Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
10          Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre – NGC
11          Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre – NGC
12          Steven de Jongh (Ned) Quick Step
13          Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Skil-Shimano
14          Nikolai Troussov (Rus) Team Katusha
15          Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Astana
16          Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
17          Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
18          Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
19          Yauheni Hutarovich (Blr) Française des Jeux
20          Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne

Green Jersey Standings

1           Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC           200           pts
2          Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team                   190
3          Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne          116
4          Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream                   110
5          Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram                            100
6          Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                   97
7          Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas                            81
8          Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale                   74
9          Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne          64
10          Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank                   55

Overall Results

1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 48:27:21
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
4 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana 0:00:39
5 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:00:46
6 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
7 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54

Allez915

Só eu vejo essas coisas?

Com mais de 3 horas de vantagem, acho que já ganhou .

Leipheimer sofre uma queda aparentemente sem consequências ontem. Aparentemente.

Segundo a assessoria de imprensa da Astana, ele não conseguiu dormir em função da dor que sentia no pulso. Um exame mais detalhado hoje de manhã (na França) revelou uma fratura do escafóide.

No seu Twitter ele escreveu: Meu pulso está quebrado. Não posso descrever como estou desapontado.

Armstrong também.

In France, Bastille Day is a holiday celebrated much like the Independence Day here in the US.  In the states, Bastille

Stage 10 Winner Mark Cavendish

Day is probably better known as a song by Rush, at least among forty somethings and/or nonhistorians.

There’s no bread, let them eat cake
There’s no end to what they’ll take
Flaunt the fruits of noble birth
Wash the salt into the earth

But they’re marching to Bastille day, la guillotine will claim
Her bloody prize free, the dungeons of the innocent the king
Will kneel, and let his kingdom rise!

Bastille Day by Rush

In the spirit of French independence, who will rise today I ask? Who between the kings of sprint or breakaway of the masses will prevail?  Read on cycling fan and see.

The race went something like this:  Hupond got the first break at 5km after the start.  He was marked by Vaugrenard, Ignatiev and Domoulin who bridged moments later.  And so it was for 40km over a series of Cat 4 climb over undulating landscape.

At 45km into the stage, the four leaders in the break, Hupond, Vaugrenard, Ignatiev and Dumoulin, held nearly a 6 minute lead.  The four worked well together extending the lead to six minutes at one point.  Without race radios however, the peloton could not allow too much latitude for fear the break riders would sneak away.  The work to close the gap began and within just 12km, the break had only a two minute advantage.

Several teams have donated a rider to do the work of keep the break in check including Milram Quick Step, Caisse d’Epargne, Astana and Ag2r.  The break hovered between 1:30 and 3.30 minutes for the next 90 kilometers.  The peloton and Columbia in particular intended to string out the break to the final kilometers to prevent riders from attempting to bridge up.

With 30km to go, the peloton finally began to reel in the break, rapidly dropping the gap to one minute.  The gap closed as follows over the remaining kilometers:

• 20km, 20 seconds
• 12.5km, 42 seconds
• 11km, 38 secs
• 10km, 35 secs
• 9km, 30 secs
• 7km, 26 secs
• 6km, 21 secs
• 5km, 20 secs – Garmin forms on the right for Farrar
• 3.5km, 14 secs
• 2km, 10 secs – Columbia lines up for the sprint
• 1.5km and done – Hincapie is at the front for Columbia in the final curve laden section doing a monster of a pull

Renshaw took over then pulled off as Cavendish engages the nitrous.   Peanuts on a Popsicle stick, he was fast!  Hushovd was on his wheel but couldn’t get past.  No luck for Farrar either, coming in third.

Cavendish takes his third stage of the tour.  The kings have taken the day.  They take their place on podium high with throngs of admirers singing their praises.

Happy Bastille Day

Point of Interest:  The race organizers deemed today’s stage, radio free day.  That meant there would be no two way communications between riders and team directors.  Riders had to use other means to keep in touch as in days of old.  Riders and team directors have complained for days on the matter for a wide range of reasons many of which seemed reasonable though none of any true consequence.  As you can imagine it was drama all day.  It seemed like every rider had something to say about it.  Some of the riders even stripped jerseys in “protest”.  In the end, the fears and concerns were overblown and overplayed.

Stage 9 Map

Stage 9 Profile

Stage 10 Race Reports

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Cycling Weekly
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Yahoo Sports

Stage 10 Video

Versus Recap

Stage 10 Results

1 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 4:46:43
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team
3 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream
4 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
5 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne
6 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7 Kenny Robert van Hummel (Ned) Skil-Shimano
8 William Bonnet (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
9 Daniele Bennati (Ita) Liquigas
10 Saïd Haddou (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom
11 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram
12 Marco Bandiera (Ita) Lampre – NGC
13 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Silence – Lotto
14 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Rabobank
15 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank
16 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel
17 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
18 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
19 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Team Columbia – HTC
20 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Lampre – NGC

Green Jersey Standings

1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team 147 pts
2 Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC 141
3 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne 97
4 Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram 81
5 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 80
6 Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank 73
7 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank 55
8 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 54
9 Romain Feillu (Fra) Agritubel 49
10 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom 47

Overall Standings

1 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 39:11:04
2 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 0:00:06
3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:00:08
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:00:54
5 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
6 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC 0:01:00
7 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:01
8 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream 0:01:24
9 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:01:49
10 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:01:54

Allez915

El Astana va camino de copar las tres primeras plazas del podio de París, y sin embargo…sin embargo qué poco me gustaría estar en ese equipo, sobre todo si soy Alberto Contador.

Ya sabíamos que Armstrong mandaba en Discovery y que Bruyneel y él mantenían una gran amistad. Lo que no sabíamos cuando regresó al ciclismo es que de verdad podía ganar un Tour de nuevo. Visto lo visto y sin Contador de por medio parece claro que sí, con lo que Alberto se convierte en enemigo público número uno de Armstrong y por ende de todos sus amigos, que no son pocos.

Y claro, el viejo, que más sabe por viejo que por diablo, sabe que en la carretera el mejor es español y de Pinto para más señas. Por eso esta estratagema que se trae entre manos desde hace unos días. “El ataque de Contador no entraba en los planes, pero me lo esperaba”, “habría podido seguirle, pero preferí respetarle”.

¿Qué gana Armstrong con esto? Pues mucho, creedme. Amén de sacar a Contador de sus casillas por no entender nada de la nueva e inesperada situación, intenta asegurarse que Alberto le respete en caso de que llegue un ataque suyo. “Yo le respeté”, dirá entonces el 7 veces campeón, y nadie podrá contradecirle. Y lo ha conseguido, a tenor de las declaraciones de Contador asegurando que no saldría a por él.

Con muchos le valdría el juego, muchos agacharían la cabeza y se prepararían para rendir honores al viejo rey. A muchos les haría ilusión que el recórdman mundial de tours le haga una muesca más a su bicicleta. Pero al de Pinto no le hace ninguna gracia: “Si yo fuera el líder mi ataque no habría sido polémico”. Pues eso, que la guerra fría que se vivía en Astana tiene de fría lo que una noche toledana.

En cualquier caso hay que destacar como Bruyneel se ha salido de la polémica y deja hacer a los dos. Va a ser un duelo en la carretera que se decidirá presumiblemente en Mont Ventoux. La pena es que el Tour con mejores ciclistas de los últimos tiempos sólo disponga de tres finales en alto y no se pase por el Tourmalet (corriendo, digo). ¿Será que la organización también va con Armstrong, cansada ya de españoles profanando París?

Sanchez showed he had the best form of a breakaway group of four in the 8^th stage today.  In the final kilometer, he first closed the final 5-second gap to the escaped Efimkin then clipped Casar at the line for the win.  It was a great performance on a dynamic but uneventful stage.

Luis León Sánchez Nips Sandy Casar at the Line to Take Stage 8

Today’s stage had a category 1 climb right out of the gate.  There was a great deal of churn as riders attempted to break on the challenging climb.  The peloton split into groups as Astana tried to stabilize the pace.  Sandy Casar got the KOM points followed by Kern and Martinez on the climb.  The rest followed in a string.  Casar maintained the lead over the summit followed by a chase including Cadel Evans, Zabriskie, Egoi Martinez, Efimkin, Kern, and La Mondiale at 53 seconds back.  The peloton was a further 2:10 back.  All this was occurring at 17km into the race.

On the decent Hincapie, Hushovd, Fletcha and Cancellara joined the chase though they couldn’t put time on Casar initially.  Eventually Casar is reeled in.  The break now had 1:35 on the Yellow jersey bunch.  It seems the battle for KOM and Green jersey points was providing the motivation for the composition of the break both for and against the titles.  Astana was controlling the peloton as expected.  They had it down to 45, not giving Cadel much latitude.

At 113km to go mark the pressure of the looming peloton forced a bailout by some and a capitulation to the capture by others.  The remaining break included Fletcha, Casar, Hushovd, Hincapie, Efimkin, and Cancellara with a 20 second gap.  Hushovd took the intermediate sprint making him the Green jersey on the road.  There were many changes as riders tried to bridge the relatively small gap.  Sanchez, Ignatiev, Astarloza and Rosseler joined on at that point while Cadel dropped off.  Hushovd took top points on the second sprint line to tighten his grip on green.  The break had 1:30 at the 86km to go mark.

On the second climb of the day at 72km to go, it was Hincapie, Cancellara, Sanchez, Ignatiev, Efimkin, Flecha, Astarloza, Casar and Rosseler who was falling off but caught back on descending.  The Yellow jersey group were at 2:57, still climbing.

Andy Schleck upped the pace on the accent up the final climb of the day up the Col d’Agnès at 55km. The added pressure forced split in the peloton.  Notably the Yellow jersey fell behind the split.  It was a yeoman’s effort by the veteran Stephane Goubert to help Rinaldo Nocentini (GC leader) bridge back to the lead chase group prior to the summit.  He had lost more than two minutes prior.  That would have been it for Rinaldo had he not bridged.  Schleck’s brought the gap to the break down to 2:40 by the summit.

Several riders fell out of the breakaway leaving only Efimkin, Astarloza, Sanchez and Casar while the others fell back.  At 46km to go, Efimkin jumped halfway up the climb dropping Astarloza, Sanchez and Casar.  Astarloza and Sanchez fought back only to be dropped again by a resurgent Efimkin.  Casar fell off the pace trying to conserve energy the rest of the way up.  Efimkin was caught 2km prior to the summit and resolved to stay with the break.  Casar crested the summit shortly after and caught back on the break a few km down the mountain with a fabulous decent.

Just after cresting the Col d’Agnès with 40km to go Columbia’s Hincapie accelerated away from the chasing peloton.  He bombed the decent trying to bridge to the four in the lead break.  He knocked the gap to 1:10 before the break riders started working together to extend the lead again to over 2 minutes.  Hincapie started looking back after that giving up and waiting for the peloton to absorb him back in.  The peloton was just under 3 minutes back at 25km when the Astana lead pack finally reeled him in.

The peloton whittled away the lead slowly but surely.  At 15km the gap was reduced 40 seconds to 2:30. Nocentini’s AG2R squad assumed the lead at this point to protect the jersey on the run in to the finish.  The gap dropped below 2 minutes at the 7.5km mark

At the 4.5, Astarloza leaped but was quickly marked.  Seconds later AG2R’s Efimkin did a brilliant jump holding on to about 500 meters.  It was Sanchez who turned on the afterburners to close the gap with Casar and Astarloza close in.  Casar starts the sprint but Sanchez is just two strong and swings by in the last 50 to take the stage.  The peloton cut the gap to 1:50 by the end with no significant changes in the order.

Tomorrow’s stage presents the Col d’Aspin (12km at 6.6 percent) and the Col du Tourmalet (17km at 7.5 percent) both notoriously difficult climbs.  The tour organization strangely placed the climbs smack in the middle of the stage, which will limit any damage done by an enterprising rider of breakaway.  I expect there will be a few GC contenders who will have to give it a go.  In previous years Discovery would send up a sentinel who could fall back for support.  This year, politics may prevent all be a few nonthreatening teammates from the task.  Still it is a possibility.   My guess would be Popovych who made a similar attempt on stage 16 of the Giro this year.  He was caught on the mountain top finish by Sastre with just 2.5km to go after giving it all he had.  I think he would enjoy the green light to give it another shot.

As for the Astana drama, both Lance and Alberto were conciliatory in their morning interviews.  Apparently “it’s all good”.  Bruyneel, in an effort to build trust I suppose has offered that both riders will have an opportunity to challenge for the Yellow, So much for Leipy and Klöden’s ambitions.  Article by Martin Rodgers describing the goings on.

Stage 8 Profile

Stage 8 Map

Stage 8 Recap

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Cycling Weekly
ESPN
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Stage 8 Results

1           Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne           4:31:50
2          Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux
3          Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
4          Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale          0:00:03
5          Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne          0:01:54
6          Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
7          Peter Velits (Svk) Team Milram
8          Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne
9          Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux
10          Thomas Voeckler (Fra) BBOX Bouygues Telecom

Polka Dot Jersey Standings

1           Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne           59           pts
2          Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi          54
3          Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel          49
4          Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale          46
5          Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux          43
6          Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi          38
7          Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) AG2R La Mondiale          35
8          Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale          34
9          Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram          32
10          Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne          26

Green Jersey Standings

1           Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team           117           pts
2          Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team Columbia – HTC          106
3          Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram          66
4          Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne          65
5          Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank          55

Overall Standings

1           Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale           30:18:16
2          Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana          0:00:06
3          Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana          0:00:08
4          Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana          0:00:39
5          Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream          0:00:46
6          Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana          0:00:54
7          Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC          0:01:00
8          Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream          0:01:24
9          Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank          0:01:49
10          Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas          0:01:54

Allez915

Who needs Valverde?

This morning the headline in L’Equipe said “Le Boss, C’est Contador.” Perhaps, but it’s a very well-behaved boss today. No misbehaving on the road to Saint Girons.

Standing outside the Astana team bus before stage 8, Johan Bruyneel had a big grin on his face. When asked the inevitable questions about Armstrong and Alberto, his grin got even bigger. Yes, he’d had a talk with Alberto, yes, there would be no more “surprise” attacks by the Spanish climber. It sounded like a family intervention happened at the breakfast table, with each rider facing Alberto and saying buddy, chill means chill, don’t pull that stunt again or you’re fetching your own fig bars and water bottles.

Astana rode as a team and kept the break to a minimum with Luis Sanchez winning the sprint in an exciting chess-match with Sandy Casar. Meanwhile, Rinaldo Nocentini, in his yellow jersey, did a fine job after losing contact with the lead group, then clawing his way back to keep it for another day.

It was a relatively quiet ride for the top GC contenders, with only Cadel Evans attacking early with a breakaway group. He gained 40 seconds before futility–and the animosity of the other escape riders– set in. Team Garmin had three riders up front which bodes well for the big climbs tomorrow. Christian Vande Velde, Bradley Wiggins and even David Miller made a notable show of force.

It appears Johan Bruyneel has laid down the law and we’re guessing team censure had plenty to do with it. Yaroslav Popovych probably told Contador he wouldn’t share his ipod with him anymore.  Andreas Kloden announced he would no longer split his chocolate desserts. Levi Leipheimer flat out told Contador he would short-sheet his bed every night. No chance of recovery then.

This kind of team pressure is sure to bring Contador in line. When the team massage therapist tells Alberto that his fingers are too tired to work on him, that sends a message. One more crazy, unscripted attack and Contador will be adjusting his own derailleur and begging food from the Caisse d’Epargne team.

Plan? What plan?

Houston, we have a boss problem.

Alberto Contador made a statement today: I’m riding to win this tour no matter what team Director Johan Bruyneel or Lance Armstrong  have planned. Maybe it was a simple translation problem for Contador but since Johan Bruyneel speaks about five languages, that seems unlikely. Maybe Alberto has a hearing issue and is too embarrased to wear a hearing aid. We’ve come a long way from the stigma of these devices and they look quite good with a Giro helmet.

Heading up the 7.7 percent grade of the Arcalis climb, the message from the team car was to “chill out a bit, slow it down.” But with 2 kilometers to go, Contador left the other Astana riders behind with a hard acceleration. It was too late to win the stage but not not too late to reverse the roles: he’s now the top placed Astana rider, just 6 second off yellow with Lance another 2 seconds back. It looked like payback for Armstrong’s great leap up the standings when Columbia split the peleton in stage 3. A move Contador had missed completely.

Armstrong claimed he was not surprised by Contador’s stunt, saying “that wasn’t the plan but I didn’t expect him to go by the plan.”  Hard to see these two guys sitting next to each other at the hotel dinner table. It appears that Bruyneel is taking a hands off approach, letting the two riders battle it out for themselves. Bruyneel said  ”we didn’t give out specific instructions. I just told them to talk to each other and do what they have to do.” Sounds like a man that’s tired of managing his two stars and deciding who’s the number 1 rider. When the party line is that the road will decide, then Bruyneel is letting go the reigns. This could get very ugly fast.

For his part, Armstrong played the team game, not chasing Contador, simply sitting on wheels and shutting down the short attacks by Cadel Evans, Andy Schleck and the surprising Bradley WIggins. Garmin had a great day with Wiggins and Vande Velde riding up front and taking 5th and 8th in the overall classification.

It was also another fantastic day for France as Brice Feillu (Agributel), riding his first tour, won this first race. What a way to start. He crossed the line knowing he’d just quadrupled his salary to go with his cuddly stuffed lion. He’s going to have a great vacation in August. If you picked Feuilli to win, you should run to the nearest casino and bet your life saving because you’re obviously on a hot streak.

And a bon chapeau to journeyman rider Rinaldo Nocentini (AG2R) who benefited from being the best placed rider on GC in the breakaway. After 11 years on the pro circuit, he earned a magic day in yellow by a mere 6 seconds over Contador. If Alberto had stopped being so “chilled out” a kilometer earlier, he’d be in yellow.

And so the saga continues. Sure, journalists create stories and manufacture rivalries — that’s part of their job. I don’t think there’s any question that the situation with Armstrong and Contador is tense, with a real possibility of explosion. These are are two super-stars on the same team and only one jersey. What did anyone expect?

Brice Feillu steps out of his brothers shadow today to bring the honor of a stage win to his family and team.  Feillu was part of a nine-man

Feillu splintered a nine man break to take Stage 7

break that whittled down on the mountain top finish in Arcalis.  Initially looking weak, Feillu surprised all by jumping halfway up the above category climb.  He held on to take the stage.  The rest of the break straggled in behind him.  Contador fired the third shot in the battle for Astana preeminence (the first being the time trial – expected & second Lance’s crosswind attack – on the margins).  He took it upon himself to attack rather than cover attackers in the most blatant self-serving move to date.  Outside of the politics, it was a brilliant move.  He clearly has the legs to challenge the best.

As it happened:  At about 45km a stable break formed to include Gutierrez, Martinez, Riblon, Nocentini, Kuschynski, Kern, Pineau, Feillu and Frohlinger.  The highest placing of the group was Nocentini at 3:13.  As such none were considered a threat by the GC contenders and were allowed to go up the road in the name of stabilizing the peloton.  The group extended their lead to more than 12 minutes over the next 140km.

The peloton largely stuck together with Astana taking the helm as if they held Yellow.  Saxo’s absence from the front was telling relative to their expectations of Cancellara.  With 25km to go, Astana started to turn up the dial as Paulinho, Popovych and Zubeldia set a blistering pace.  As they fell off one by one, the pressure ratcheted up but the gap had not fallen enough to clear all of the break riders from the GC standings.  The GC chase group, including all the favorites, continued to grab back time rapidly but was running out of real estate.  Ahead in the break, Feillu jumped at 5.5km fracturing the group in the process.  The GC chase heavy still with Astana riders stuck together until the Cadel took a shot.  He was marked rapidly but seconds later Contador took off.  Contador in his trademark acceleration pealed off the front leaving the chase in the dust.  He grew the lead steadily to the line putting distance all the favorites including his coleader, Lance.

Contador came close but did not gain enough time to garner the yellow.  The GC did shake up a little as the break rider, Nocentini, held enough of a gap to put himself in yellow.  Contador leaps Lance with Leipheimer and Wiggins rounding out the top 5.

When interviewed, Armstrong, Leipheimer and even the director Johan Bruyneel said that Contador was off script.  He was expected to work with the team as a group and prepare to cover the moves of the GC threats.  Contador’s was rather guarded in his after race interview.  He said he was testing his legs and was hopeful to put some distance on his competitors.  As if heeding Hinault’s words in commentary this morning, he effectively threw the gauntlet down.

Other Riders in the GC group look very good.  Though none has truly played their hand. Cadel Evans jump at the 2km mark showed excellent form though a straining chase group including Andy & Frank Schleck, Bradley Wiggins, Levi Leipheimer, Tony Martin, Lance Armstrong, Denis Menchov, Carlos Sastre, Vladimir Karpets and Christian Vande Velde were able to marked him. Team Garmin continues to looks strong with a strong performance by Wiggins and Vande Velde.  I think this group was content to shake out their legs in readiness for the next two mountain stages.  There is as they say, a long way to go.

Contador crosses the finish a few seconds shy of yellow

I’d love to be a fly on the wall on the Astana team bus tonight.  Things will probably get heated.  The individual and team expectation seem to be at odds.  Compounding the problem are matters of trust.  I wonder if Contador thinks the director favors Lance and as such is holding him back.  When riders are expected to sacrifice for the team, resentments are bound to follow especially when rolls are not defined. This seems like Lemond/Hinault all over again i.e. the senior statesman vs. the talent.  Were Contador to have earned the Yellow Jersey, Lance and the other riders’ options would be limited.  They would be expected to fall in line and support their rider.  As it is, the riders will feel less encumbered by prescribed strategy especially in the face of Contador’s defection from the team.  It will be interesting to see what face is put on this in the morning.

Now the final matter for today, what the heck is up with Boonen?  He can’t seem to catch a break in the last three days.

• Stage 5 – two flats
• Stage 6 – wreck
• Stage 7 – another wreck
• Not a single sprint point to date.

I’m throwing all the mojo I can muster at Booney to overcome his poor fortune and get in the mix.

Stage Profile

Stage 7 Profile

Stage 7 Map

Stage 7 Recap

Bicycle Magazine
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
ESPN
Velonews
Yahoo Sports

Stage 7 Video

Velonews

Stage 7 Results

1           Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel           6:11:31
2          Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne          0:00:05
3          Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram          0:00:25
4          Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale          0:00:26
5          Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi          0:00:45
6          Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale          0:01:05
7          Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step          0:02:32
8          José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne          0:03:14
9          Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana          0:03:26
10          Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto          0:03:47
11          Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
12          Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream
13          Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank
14          Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
15          Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana
16          Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC
17          Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
18          Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team
19          Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Team Katusha
20          Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream

Polka Dot Jersey Overall

1           Brice Feillu (Fra) Agritubel           49            pts
2          Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale          46
3          Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne          46
4          Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi          43
5          Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale          34
6          Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram          32
7          Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step          23
8          José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne          20
9          Aleksandr Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas          17
10          Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana          15

Overall Standings

1           Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale           25:44:32
2          Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana          0:00:06
3          Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana          0:00:08
4          Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana          0:00:39
5          Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin – Slipstream          0:00:46
6          Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana          0:00:54
7          Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia – HTC          0:01:00
8          Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin – Slipstream          0:01:24
9          Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank          0:01:49
10          Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas          0:01:54
11          Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step          0:02:10
12          Maxime Monfort (Bel) Team Columbia – HTC          0:02:21
13          Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank          0:02:25
14          Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas          0:02:40
15          Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Cervelo Test Team          0:02:52
16          Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram          0:02:54
17          Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas          0:03:03
18          Cadel Evans (Aus) Silence – Lotto          0:03:07
19          Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi          0:03:10
20          Kim Kirchen (Lux) Team Columbia – HTC          0:03:16

Allez915

Cavendish utilized his team to perfection winning his second stage in as many days.  The real news was a crosswind induced break that led to an irreparable split in the field that shook up the GC standings.

It was another hot stage today in southern France.  The 196km Marseille to Le Grande Motte route was rolling on the first half and dead flat on the later half.  Strong crosswinds were expected on the flats which have the potential to force echelon formations and possibly induce breaks in the peloton.

Stage 3 Winner, Mark Cavendish

A single break got away from the gun which included Moreno, Bouet, De Kort and Domoulin.  They held a lead over much of the stage with a gap of as much as 11 minutes.  The peloton was content to pedal at a comfortable pace, seemingly not worried about the break.  About halfway through the stage Saxo Bank, Rabobank then Columbia moved to the front in sequence to do the work of reeling in the escapees.  The lead steadily fell over the next 70km.  As the Columbia led peloton approached the break, the pace and cross winds, fractured the field.  Almost all of the Columbia team made the front group of 29 as well as Cancellara, Cavendish, Martin and Hushovd.  Three Astana riders made it including Armstrong, Zubeldia and Popo. Many contenders were in the chase group including Contador, Evans, Sastre, Leipheimer, the Schlecks and several of the sprinters. The gap hovered between 20 to 40 seconds into the final kilometers.  Even with strong chase effort the lead group held on to the line taking 40+ seconds out of the chase.

Cavendish was well positioned for the sprint with a single rider left on lead out.  Hushovd was on his wheel but didn’t have enough to get by.  Another great win for Cav.  Cancellara made a nice effort to snag 6^th.  The GC changed considerably with Armstrong and Martin moving up and Contador, Kloden, Evans and Leipheimer moving down.

I’ll be very interested in reviewing the video and race reports today.  It seems Armstrong was urging his team on in the lead group even though his team lead, Contador, got caught in the chase group.  Hopefully an interviewer will extract an explanation.  Regardless, Lance has situated himself to possibly take the Yellow Jersey tomorrow with a high probability win tomorrow in the TTT.  That of course would have him protected as leader till the mountain top finish in Arcalis on Stage 7.  All bets are off at that point.

P.S. After reading and viewing interviews and commentary, It seems to me that Lance thought under the conditions that it was wise to stay up front in case a split developed.  Contador had been near the split but missed by a hair.  At that point, Lance mostly hung on to the Columbia freight train and ended up with a windfall.  Lance was unapologetic mind you but seemed to have a proper perspective of the time gain relative to the weeks ahead in the context of team politics.  Contador didn’t seem concerned in the least.

Stage 3 Race Reports

ESPN (best of the reports)
Velonews
Cycling News
Cycling Weekly
Yahoo Sports
Cycling Weekly (Lances Motives…Not to Top Contador)

Stage 3 Video

Versus Race Recap
Versus Post Race Recap

Stage 3 Results

1. Mark Cavendish Team Columbia – Htc in 5:01:24
2. Thor Hushovd Cervelo Test Team
3. Cyril Lemoine Skil-Shimano at 00:00
4. Samuel Dumoulin Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne at s.t.
5. Jérôme Pineau Quick Step at s.t.
6. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank at s.t.
7. Fabian Wegmann Team Milram at s.t.
8. Fumiyuki Beppu Skil-Shimano at s.t.
9. Maxime Bouet Agritubel at s.t.
10. Linus Gerdemann Team Milram at s.t.

GC Standings

1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank in 9:50:58
2. Tony Martin Team Columbia – Htc in 9:51:31
3. Lance Armstrong Astana in 9:51:38 at 00:40
4. Alberto Contador Astana in 9:51:57 at 00:59
5. Bradley Wiggins Garmin – Slipstream in 9:51:58 at 01:00
6. Andréas KlÖden Astana in 9:52:01 at 01:03
7. Linus Gerdemann Team Milram in 9:52:01 at 01:03
8. Cadel Evans Silence – Lotto in 9:52:02 at 01:04
9. Maxime Monfort Team Columbia – Htc in 9:52:08 at 01:10
10. Levi Leipheimer Astana in 9:52:09 at 01:11
11. Michael Rogers Team Columbia – Htc in 9:52:11 at 01:13
12. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas in 9:52:11 at 01:13
13. George Hincapie Team Columbia – Htc in 9:52:15 at 01:17
14. Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas in 9:52:16 at 01:18
15. Gustav Larsson Team Saxo Bank in 9:52:20 at 01:22
16. Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel – Euskadi in 9:52:23 at 01:25
17. David Zabriskie Garmin – Slipstream in 9:52:26 at 01:28
18. David Millar Garmin – Slipstream in 9:52:27 at 01:29
19. Jérôme Pineau Quick Step in 9:52:29 at 01:31
20. Haimar Zubeldia Astana in 9:52:29 at 01:31

Allez915

The 15km time trial in Monaco exposed the field in this year’s tour.  As Phil Liggett predicted, Fabian Cancellara took the podium.  Considering his win at the Tour de Suisse this year beating out Martin, KlÖden and Cunego, the rest of

Contador Pounds the Field

the field will be keeping an eye on him.  Great performance but the spots below reveal the GC potential on the non-specialists.  Contador solidified his position as Astana team lead with a blistering performance today.   Only Cancellara had the guns to keep him at bay.  Lance put in a solid performance but for the second time this year appears to be fetching bottles for his ridiculously strong team.  Astana has 4 riders in the top 10 for the love of god. Joining Contador in the top ten were KlÖden, Leipheimer and Lance.

Cadel Evans had a great performance today besting Leipheimer to take 5^th.  He looks to be on form and likely able to stick with the leaders on the tough stuff.  Unfortunately his GC hopes are a tough road considering the poor performance of his team.  Not only will Lotto probably take a beating on Tuesday’s TTT but he is unlikely to have much support as the grade steepens.  While Cadel is very strong in the mountains, in the past he has been unable to attack in a way that will help him reclaim the time required to find a podium spot.

Sastre 21^st and Menchov 53^rd each gave up a minute or more to leader.  Sastre had a great Giro showing best of the bunch form on the mountains.  This field is stronger still.  While Levi and Lance maintained their relative placing in the field of racers from the Giro to the Tour, this trio appears to have faded from top form.  Sastre in particular has shown an ability to bury himself on a time trial when necessary.  This day it was not to be.  He has some ground to make up.  His team didn’t fair to well either today.  The stage is set for widening the gap on the TTT.   What is up with Menchov?  I find it hard to understand his lack of form.  He has some ground to make up and probably more still on Tuesday.

The Stage 4 team time trial set for Tuesday should prove out that Astana is the cream of the field. Team Garmin and Team Columbia looked very strong today and aught to be able to elevate the team riders as a whole in the TTT as well.  I for one can’t wait.  There will likely be a stack of green and yellow riders at the top of the GC on Wednesday morning.  Many of the American riders should have a great showing.

Stage 1 Race Reports

• Cycling News
• Velonews
• Cycling Weekly
• Bicycling Magazine
• Yahoo Sports

• Yahoo Sports (Astana Drama)

Stage 1 Video

• Versus

Stage 1 Results

1. Fabian Cancellara Team Saxo Bank in 19:32
2. Alberto Contador Astana in 19:50
3. Bradley Wiggins Garmin – Slipstream in 19:51 at 00:19
4. Andréas KlÖden Astana in 19:54 at 00:22
5. Cadel Evans Silence – Lotto in 19:55 at 00:23
6. Levi Leipheimer Astana in 20:02 at 00:30
7. Roman Kreuziger Liquigas in 20:04 at 00:32
8. Tony Martin Team Columbia – Htc in 20:05 at 00:33
9. Vincenzo Nibali Liquigas in 20:09 at 00:37
10. Lance Armstrong Astana in 20:12 at 00:40
11. Gustav Larsson Team Saxo Bank in 20:13 at 00:41
12. Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel – Euskadi in 20:16 at 00:44
13. David Zabriskie Garmin – Slipstream in 20:19 at 00:47
14. David Millar Garmin – Slipstream in 20:20 at 00:48
15. Jérôme Coppel Francaise Des Jejuna in 20:23 at 00:51
16. Sylvain Chavanel Quick Step in 20:28 at 00:56
17. Christian Vande Velde Garmin – Slipstream in 20:29 at 00:57
18. Andy Schleck Team Saxo Bank in 20:32 at 01:00
19. Linus Gerdemann Team Milram in 20:35 at 01:03
20. Rémi Pauriol Cofidis Le Credit En Ligne in 20:37 at 01:05
21. Carlos Sastre Cervelo Test Team in 20:38 at 01:06
22. Vladimir Karpets Team Katusha in 20:39 at 01:07
23. Alessandro Ballan Lampre – N.g.c in 20:42 at 01:10
24. Maxime Monfort Team Columbia – Htc in 20:42 at 01:10
25. Broeck Jurgen Van Den Silence – Lotto in 20:43 at 01:11

Allez915

Goodbye Lance, see you in Paris.

Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) took the yellow jersey but Alberto Contador won the biggest prize: leadership of team Astana. By finishing second in the opening 15.5 kilometer time trial, Alberto sent a defiant message that Lance Armstrong will be riding for him and not the other way around. Astana belongs to Contador and the Texan is now on domestique duty.

It appears Lance will be fetching water bottles for half the Astana team because despite a strong ride in 10th place, he was only the fourth fastest rider in his own squad. Contador (2nd), Andreas Kloden (4th) and Levi Leipheimer (6th) all posted quicker times. So besides carrying bottles, Lance may be hauling sandwiches and granola bars for the Astana boys. If Alberto wants an apple or Kloden is hungry for grapes, guess who’s going back to the team car. Just like the old Postal Days, Lance will be making deliveries.

Starting early in hopes of avoiding the afternoon winds, Armstrong looked like his old self: head down, jaw set, legs hammering out his signature cadence. In fact, he looked fantastic. He was back from retirement, three years of rust scraped off and collarbone be damned. Lance was on a mission and every spectator in Monaco could see it. He ripped through the course only to watch as three teammates later beat him.

Alberto Contador, with the Armstrong-induced pressure on him, delivered a powerful and confident ride. He packed all the months of speculation, rumors, incessant Lance twitters and media fueled rivalry into one 20 minute explosion of anaerobic fury. He’d had enough. And by the finish line, he’d settled all doubts. Kid Contador is now the boss.

There were two first places at stake today at the start of the 2009 Tour de France. 1st in the stage and first within your own team. Alberto got his.

El Tour 09, una ‘guerra’ entre Armstrong y Contador · El favorito es el de Pinto · El murciano Valverde, la gran ausencia

por Luis Francisco Castillo Rodríguez

Armstrong: ¿Victoria o redención? La 'grande boucle' dictará sentencia

La rivalidad entre corredores del mismo equipo no es nueva. El Tour 09 se presenta como una ‘guerra civil’ entre Armstrong y Contador, pero la pataleta es vieja. Quizás lo más curioso del asunto sea que el retorno del tejano supone es contrario al orden natural de las cosas: en este caso, es el viejo el que reta al joven, cuando en la historia del ciclismo casi siempre fue al revés.

Armstrong vuelve, y a pesar de su soberbia recordada hasta la extenuación, me parece que lo hace por una causa noble, ya fuera porque se aburre en su vida diaria o para promocionar su lucha contra el cáncer. El americano es valiente y competitivo -no concibe el deporte si no es desde la victoria-, pero a sus 37 años es probable que se descuelgue en la montaña y termine como gregario de Contador.

De este modo, Armstrong nos brinda la posibilidad de contemplar su caída, cosa que no vimos en su anterior imperio. Todos los grandes pasaron antes por ello: Merckx, Hinault, Anquetil, Induráin… Armstrong no vuelve para vacilar, sino que lo hace en un acto que le redime; quizás quiera catar la hiel de la derrota, porque los más grandes de este deporte siempre sufrieron en sus carnes una ‘pájara’ en algún puerto de los Pirineos o los Alpes.

Contador, el gran favorito para el amarillo

Pero el gran favorito es Alberto Contador, por palmarés y juventud. Haría mal en obsesionarse con la sola presencia del estadounidense, porque la guerra del tejano es meramente personal y no va con él. El favoritismo de Contador no se discute: ha ganado el Tour 07 y el Giro y la Vuelta 08.

Eso sí, Alberto tendrá rivales de carne y hueso, como Sastre -ganador el año pasado, si bien a sus 34 años la hazaña parece difícil-, el australiano Cadel Evans -quien a sus 32 años será quizás el rival a batir- y el ruso Menchov, reciente ganador del Giro, pero cuyo rendimiento es siempre una incógnita en la ‘grande boucle’.

En segunda fila quedan corredores jóvenes como Andy y Frank Schleck, Leipheimer, Kreuziger o el muleño Luis León Sánchez, líder del equipo Caisse d’ Epargne junto a Óscar Pereiro. La ausencia más sonada quizás sea la del también murciano Alejandro Valverde, perseguido siempre por la sombra del dopaje. Por lo mismo faltarán también el italiano Riccó o el austríaco Kohl, protagonistas de la edición pasada.

Y es que el dopaje vuelve a estar en boga un año más, con sus presunciones e inocencias todavía por demostrar. Sin embargo, para los seguidores de este deporte lo mejor es dejar a un lado la EPO y centrarnos en el deporte del sufrimiento y la aventura; un deporte de más de un siglo de antigüedad que expone al ser humano a sus límites más insospechados, a las miserias de la naturaleza y a las puertas de la gloria. Vuelve, señoras y señores, el Tour de Francia.

The Classics season is over. The Giro’s finished. The Dauphine Libere starts this coming weekend. Most of the early season favourites have shown form of some description, but this remains the most open of Tours in years. So who is going to win?

Contador goes into the Dauphine – traditionally Lance’s Tour warm up event – as one of the favourites and has an opportunity to be the genuine Astana (or whatever their name is come July 4th) team leader. Levi’s early season form seems to have deserted him, but Astana look incredibly strong and – as mentioned in my Giro reflections – I wouldn’t write off Lance just yet. The Schleck brothers looked very good – bar Frank’s crash in the Amstel Gold race - in the Classics, but will either trascend the status of young prospect and mount a serious yellow jersey bid? Can Menchov challenge in a second successive grand tour? Is Basso up to the task as he continues his come back? Does Evans have the ability to go one better than 2008? Will Sastre improve on his Giro form and retain his title?

Here are the latest odds.

So far 75% of you think Contador, making him the undisputed favourite. Vote now!

Who do you think will be the winner in Paris?

Crash, crash, crash.

Danilo di Luca (LPR BRakes) did everything inhumanly possible to shake Denis Menchov (Rabobank), get him off his wheel and win this Giro. It was like an Italian version of the Paul Simon song, “50 ways to leave your lover.” He attacked at least five times — from the base on Vesuvio to the summit. You have to respect his efforts and he tried everything.

On a few occasions, Di Luca looked over at the impassive Menchov as if to say, “look, what do you want–money, girls, a speedboat, a villa in Tuscany– I’ll give you whatever you want, just get off my wheel.” But no suck luck. In the sprint to the finish line, di Luca gained an 8 second time bonus but that’s not going to dislodge the Russian.

Carlos Sastre (Saxo Bank) again proved he’s the best pure climber in the Giro, taking his second stage. A valiant effort but not effort to gain a step on the podium. If not for his his won admitted mistake on the Blockhaus stage, he would surely be in the top three.

It was a day of managed expectations for Lance Armstrong and Levi Leipheimer (Astana). A crash took Lance down and that drained whatever energy he had for an attack. For Levi, it was a typical Giro mountain stage, always in the front groups but never having the fitness to drive the pace.

It’s interesting to compare Armstrong and Basso, two riders in their first grand tour after several years. Lance returns from three years of inactivity and plenty of Lone Star beer while Basso served a 2 year drug suspension. You could argue that given the long layoff, broken collarbone and support riding for Levi, that Lance is having an amazing Giro. All that and he’s 5 years older than Basso and sat out one more year. Basso is currently 5th and Lance is 12th on GC. Lance is duh man.

Look for the never-say-die Di Luca to give it another go tomorrow. He’s the Energizer Bunny of the Giro.

If you ever wondered why Danilo Di Luca is nicknamed The Killer, one look at him today on the closing kilometres of the Blockhaus would put you in no doubt. Teeth clenched and wild eyed, he had all the look of a rampaging murderer. Di Luca was going at full gas, once again trying to seize this Giro by the sheer force of his own will.

Up the road was Franco Pellizotti of Liquigas, who after appearing dead and buried on Monday had attacked on the lower slopes in attempt to put himself back into the race. Behind him were several of his key rivals, including Pellizotti’s team mate Ivan Basso and Cervelo’s Carlos Sastre. And glued limpet-like to his wheel was race leader Denis Menchov, who held a slim 39 second advantage over him. Di Luca had to limit the time Pellizotti gained, increase his advantage over the chasing riders and somehow try to shake off Menchov. Such was the fierceness of his riding, that it was easy to believe he could accomplish all three, were it not for the the fact that Menchov appeared stony faced and unflappable as he tracked his rival to the top of the Blockhaus.

Di Luca has ridden this Giro the hard way, always at the front, always on the hunt for stage wins or podium positions to eek out those bonus seconds. He has appeared almost indestructible and it’s almost impossible to believe that a rider can go so hard for two and a half weeks and never show signs of cracking. Somehow he has.

Pellizotti though held on for his stage win and took 40 odd seconds from Di Luca and Menchov. It was good enough to put him put to third place overall, but not enough to really threaten the leading duo, since he finished the day a full two minutes behind Menchov in the overall. Pellizotti though made a serious statement today. While he was largely anonymous for the past few stages, his team mate Basso attacked twice and didn’t make much from it. When Pellizotti went today, he made it count.

If Pellizotti gained the most today, Carlos Sastre was the big loser, finishing 1:19 behind Menchov. Now back in fifth in the overall and 3:30 behind Menchov his slim chance of victory is more or less gone. Yet somehow this adds to Sastre’s appeal as a rider. He’s good, but has feet of clay and paid the price of his big attack on Monday by suffering today. Sastre spent much of the final kilometres riding with Lance Armstrong, who once again looked incredibly strong. Although he caught up with Armstrong by the end of the stage, his team mate Levi Leipheimer had another miserable day in the saddle. His chance of even a podium spot now appears gone for good.

While Pellizotti won the stage, Di Luca, Menchov and a resurgent Stefano Garzelli fought it out for second. Garzelli proved to have the fresher legs adding more points to his already commanding lead in the mountains classification. Di Luca though managed to put a few bike lengths into Menchov and grab the bonus seconds for third place. The gap now stands at 26 seconds between the pair. Those few seconds won’t make a massive difference but the important thing is that Di Luca has seen a chink in Menchov’s hitherto impregnable facade. Having complained on Monday about how it was impossible to break him, Di Luca now knows that maybe a well time attack on the slopes of Mount Vesusvius could give him what he needs.

No more water bottle fetching for me, folks.

Who wasn’t excited when Lance took off after Franco Pellizotti (Liguigas)? Who didn’t get that Tour De France feeling all over again? Who didn’t have visions of Lance on Alpe d’Huez, Ventoux and Hautacam ready to destroy all rivals? And who didn’t groan when Lance dropped back unable to reach Pellizotti’s wheel? For a few kilometers we had the Lance of old, not an old Lance. All too soon on the climb up to Blockhaus, Di Luca (LPR Brakes), Menchov (Rabobank), Basso (Liguigas) left him behind.

DI Luca did everything possible to break Menchov but to no avail. “The Killer” gritted his teeth, almost possessed, continually out of the saddle while Menchov simply sat behind. Only in the final 100 meters was Di Luca able to sprint for a gain of 5 seconds. Menchov rides a Giant bike and he truly was a giant again today. With one mountaintop stage to go, he leads Di Luca by 26 seconds.

The big loser today was Carlos Sastre whose tank appeared empty after his massive effort yesterday. He fell back two places on GC behind the Liguigas duo of Pellizotti (3rd) and Basso (4th). Sastre did he best to regain contact with Di Luca and Menchov but even with help from Armstrong, he lacked the power in his legs. A solid but unspectacular ride by Levi Leipheimer puts him in 6th with almost no hope of a podium spot.

However, Armstrong showed his great form and, freed from the domestique chores, we’re sure he’ll attack again. The team continues to miss Chris Horner– it would have been interesting to see what Horner could do when he was free to ride for himself and not look after Leipheimer. But is Lance back? He looks about 95% there and closing fast. And who wasn’t excited about that? Tour de France anyone?

Off the top of the penultimate climb of the day, Yaroslav Popovych seizes his opportunity and attacks. He, Damiano Cunego and LPR’s Gabriele Bosisio are all that’s left of the day’s break. Popovych is once again riding like his old self. Some excellent rides at the Giro in his early years saw him transfer to Lance Armstrong’s Discovery team. Although briefly touted as perhaps the next big thing, Popovych carved out a niche for himself as an incredibly able domestique. Last year he transferred to Lotto to fill the same role for Cadel Evans and was largely anonymous, dropping off the back of the bunch any time the pace went up in the mountains. This year he is back back with Armstrong and directeur sportif Johan Bruyneel at Astana and riding strongly again. Go figure.

Behind him Damiano Cunego is the one who responds. Usually a good descender, Cunego is struggling to bridge the gap. Today is his big hope of a stage win and salvaging something from what’s been a poor Giro by his standards. Indeed, to date, his most notable contribution to the race has been some slightly cryptic commentary in the press. After some earlier comments about riding with a “clear conscience”, he was back in the media again last week, speaking about how fast the race was this year. “Clearly there are others who are going stronger than me. I am giving 110 percent, and evidently it is not enough. But why do I need to worry, it is bicycle racing and there are other things in life,” he said.

Behind them, the race for the overall classification is beginning to come to the boil. The main bunch has already thinned out considerably by the top of the climb and as they approach the day’s final climb at Monte Petrano, race leader Denis Menchov’s Rabobank team are on the front.

Ivan Basso is the first to go, tracked by Menchov and Di Luca. Everyone else looks to be cooked, but as the pace slows riders begin to bridge across. Carlos Sastre, who just a moment ago looked to be in trouble, then makes his move. The first time he gets a response, the second he’s let go. Basso is the only one who tries to follow getting a gap on the chasers but still a fair bit behind the Spaniard.

Bridging up to Menchov and Di Luca is Lance Armstrong. However, his team leader Levi Leipheimer is nowhere to be seen. Inevitably, Armstrong has to drop back to wait for the struggling Leipheimer and try to pace him up the climb to limit his losses. Today is the day that the Giro slipped away from Leipheimer. The favourite almost by default at the start, since there were question marks over the form of many other contenders, the American has proved once again that he isn’t really in the top tier of riders. Armstrong, who looked well off the pace in the first half of the race is now looking ominous and appears to be riding himself into the form that would see him classed as a threat in the Tour, something which is almost unbelievable when you consider his age and the length of time he has been away from the sport.

Sastre meanwhile has caught and passed Cunego and Popovych, who have both finally succumbed to the combination of a tough stage and unyielding heat. The stage win is now his and while his gap isn’t significant, the time bonuses for the win mean that he has taken back 41 seconds from Menchov. With Leipheimer and Pellizotti blowing up, he is now up to third overall. Still 2 minutes and 19 seconds back from Menchov, he will have to attack again in the coming days if he is to take the pink jersey.

Behind him, Menchov and Di Luca catch Basso, who has been trying hard to ride himself back into contention. Basso has proven over the past two days that he is still a force to be reckoned with and finishes the day only 11 seconds behind his wilting team mate Pellizotti in the overall classification. But his riding is stil a far cry from 2006, when he won the Giro Terminator style, with over nine minutes advantage on the second placed rider.

Menchov meanwhile has played a clever game. Putting two team mates into the break meant they could drop back and help him on the approach to Monte Petrano. He doesn’t panic when Sastre attacks, since the Spaniard was three minutes down and he could afford to let him away. Instead, he sticks with Di Luca, who after the collapse of Leipheimer is his closest rival. Any time Di Luca attacks, Menchov rides right up to his wheel. Even at the close of the stage, Menchov sprints past him to take second and extend his gap over the Italian slightly. Di Luca’s peformance though has been unreal. Not a natural in the big mountains or in the time trial, he has stayed up there against all odds again this year. His only hope is that Menchov has a bad day, yet so far the Russian has looked untouchable.