2008 Tour de France - Stage 16 Wash-up
One of the most difficult days in the Tour and yet again the chance for Team CSC to blow their rivals away passed them by. The solid tempo riding by Andy Schleck and Jens Voigt only really put paid to Christian Vandevelde with Evans, Menchov, Valverde and Kohl all sticking fast up the Restefond. It’s fine to have a strong team – geez, all I’ve been hearing for the last week is Frank Schleck telling anyone who will listen what a strong team CSC is – but if you can’t use that strength to blow away your opposition when it counts then it’s a pointless exercise.
Of course, that could all change up l’Alpe d’Huez. Maybe Team CSC will do what they should have done up the Restefond and orchestrate a series of explosive attacks to put Evans and Menchov into serious difficulty. History shows that Evans can’t handle the kinds of attacks that Contador and Rasmussen hit him with last year. Surely Schleck and Sastre will just have to roll the dice and put it all on the line.
It all went a little pear-shaped for Menchov on the way down to the finish line when he found the descent more difficult than his fellow GC contenders. Losing half a minute on the descent certainly didn’t help his cause. As for Frank Schleck, Bernhard Kohl and Cadel Evans, the status quo remained unchanged with 8 seconds separating them.
As for the criticism that keeps getting piled onto Cadel Evans, his demeanour, his bodyguard, his tactics, it would be nice to see him answer all the done-nothing blowhards the best way possible by walking away with the prize in 5 days time.
Ricco Positive - Saunier Duval Out of 2008 Tour
It seems the positives will never end and the disappointments will mount. I sat down tonight to watch the 12th stage of the 2008 Tour de France to find that non-starters for the stage included Ricco, Cobo, Piepoli, De La Fuente, Pou…in fact the entire Saunier Duval team was absent. What the?
I raced over to CyclingNews in time to catch the first news flash. Riccardo Ricco, winner of 2 stages in this year’s Tour has tested positive to EPO. Bloody hell, just when an exciting young climber emerges onto the scene and promises all sorts of exciting action in the upcoming Alpine stages, we learn that the guy’s just another cheat.
Forget about the clashes between the UCI and ASO, the riders appear to still be doing their best to destroy the sport that’s paying their wages.
So Ricco’s in police custody, stage 12 got underway today without a Polka Dot Jersey and we’re cast back 12 months to the Astana debacle (no Saunier Duval-Scott in next year’s Tour after this precedent).
It doesn’t seem to matter how much I want to concentrate on and enjoy the racing that’s going on, the drug cheats are determined to run it all. Back to the Tour and Cadel Watch is still going well…going well? Can’t get much better than Yellow Jersey at the half-way mark, never mind that it’s by the barest possible margin. As nice a guy as Frank Schleck is, I’d like him to podium the race but one of the lower steps would be a nice place for him.
Tour de France - Stage 6 Super Besse
Stage 6 of the 2008 Tour de France turned out to be the delicious appetizer for the coming mountain stages that I’d hoped it would be. All of the expected GC contenders were there to stretch their climbing muscles, not to mention a few opportunists who did their best to steal a march. But in the end, thanks to a strong team ride by Caisse D’Epargne the last 2 minutes turned into a flat out uphill sprint to the line.
Christian Vandevelde (Garmin Chipotle) and Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) made an attack at the bottom of the slope of Super Besse in an attempt to stake their claim, but they were reeled in inside 2 km to go and when they were, the remainder of the peloton just went hell for leather. In the chaos, Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) looked to me as though he was matching it with the rest of them when he happened to touch the wheel of another rider with just over 300m to go. Down he went and off went the yellow jersey with it.
Up to the finish and Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval) showed too much speed to take it to the line ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D’Epargne) and, playing the role he has to play, Cadel Evans (Silence Lotto) crossed the line on his wheel.
Three seconds behind Evans was Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) and this catapulted him into the race lead. Evans is now in second place, 6 seconds back and the unlucky Stefan Schumacher is another 10 seconds back in 3rd.
Thanks to a gutsy breakaway by Sylvain Chavanel he has picked up enough points to snatch the King of the Mountain off Thomas Voeckler’s back. Young rider jersey is being worn by Thomas Lovkvist, my tip for the young rider winner is Roman Kreuziger and he sits 1’26” back in 4th place.
Cadel Watch - Stage 4 TdF 08
After the stage 4 of the 2008 Tour de France, the Individual Time Trial today in Cholet the win went to Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) but the overall GC battle has moved significantly in favour of Cadel Evans. Evans wound up coming 4th in the test, 27 seconds behind Schumacher but his nearest rival is now Denis Menchov who sits 51 seconds back.
One of the outsiders for overall GC honours Kim Kirchen (Team Columbia) has signalled his strength for the race with a massive result finishing 2nd only 18 seconds back leaving him 12 seconds behind Schumacher overall.
The other main GC contenders include Damiano Cunego at 1:26, Alejandro Valverde at 1:27 and Carlos Sastre at 1:43.
The big chuckle of the day for me was reading the BBC Sport headline that proclaimed “Millar Moves Into Tour Contention”. Yup, ever the optimists are the British press. With a best finish of 55th in 2003 and with the mountains to come, his chances are very strong.
We all know that Cadel Evans’ maddening tactic in the past has been to cover every move in the mountains to minimise any possible time loss. With a 51 second lead over his nearest major rival that type of tactic may just serve him well this year. That being said, the field hasn’t had to cover any sort of terrain yet.
Suffice to say, it’s better to be 51 seconds in front than 51 seconds behind.
Cadel Watch - Stage 2 TdF 08
We’re not going to get too excited about Cadel Evans too early, at least, not until we get an idea about whether we’re going to see Cadel The Follower or Cadel The Leader.
Alessandro Valverde has stamped his intentions quite clearly after the first 2 days of racing with the opening stage win and then sticking the Caisse D’Epargne team on the front of the peloton to control the extent of the 2 man breakaway of Thomas Voekler and Sylvain Chavenel. A lot of energy seemed to be expended to rein in two guys who are not threats for overall GC honors.
The closing moments of Stage 2 were also telling with Valverde right up at the front of the pack and right there with him, looking as though he was considering whether to contest the sprint was Cadel Evans. What in God’s name do these guys think they’re doing? Mixing it up in the confusion of a sprint finish is hardly the way to protect yourself until the mountains later in the Tour, I would have thought.
So what did they get for the risks they took? Valverde crossed the line in 12th place while Evans finished 21st. Hardly the advisable way of “staying out of trouble” early in the Tour de France.
2008 Tour De France
It’s time for me to dust off the keyboard and pick up from where I’ve sadly had to leave off with CyclingBeat. Woe the lack of coverage of ProTour events during the rest of the year, the nasty vagaries of time differences and the UCI’s insistence that only 1 ProTour race will be held in Australia per year.
It’s time for the Tour de France again and I’ll be following along with my Cadel Watch for the third year. With Astana still paying the price for last year’s indiscretions, Alberto Contador won’t get the opportunity to defend his title.
Cadel will be one of the major chances again with Silence-Lotto announcing they will be behind their man this year. His main dangers are Valverde, Sastre, Menchov and Cunego and a couple of Euskaltel guys by the names of Sanchez and Zubeldia could pop up too. Oh yeah, and last year’s surprise packet Mauricio Soler will be back with the Barloworld team.
The Crashes of the 2007 Tour de France
There were plenty of controversial moments when the racing had finished during this year’s Tour de France, but we also had a few reminders of just how toughthese riders have to be. Here are 5 of the more memorable crashes in the 2007 Tour de France.
1. It’s the start of the Tour de France and the tendancy is to go for it. Stuey O’Grady pushes things just a little too hard in London for his first crash. This clip is short and sweet - a little bit like his Tour this year. Stage 8 would end it for him with terrible injuries. Luckily (or unluckily, I suppose) he was uninjured in this crash.
2. Marcus Burghardt meets a dog. Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen dissect the fortunes of the dog and the wheel involved in this crash…oh yeah, they also mention Marcus Burghardt, too. They should think about re-installing bicycle bells..brrring, brrring, look out ya stoopid mutt!
3. Sandy Casar and Frederik Willems also meet a dog. This pooch was like a guided missile on Casar’s wheel. Somehow Casar was able to remount, reconnect and win the stage, minus half his arse.
4. The front of the peloton was the place to be in the run in to the finish of Stage 2 in the final run into Gand. Anywhere behind 20th or so and you were eating gravel at 50km per hour.
5. Time trials in the rain are always a recipe for disaster. Just ask Fabian Cancellara and Vladimir Gusev who slides up the gutter the hard way…on his chin. Oh yeah, there’s also a motocycle driver with a red face in there, too.
2007 Tour de France Team Report Cards
The 2007 Tour de France is over and we all celebrate the efforts of Alberto Contador, Cadel Evans, Levi Leipheimer, Tom Boonen and Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez. But just how did each team fare this year. I’ve decided to cast my eye over the teams to extract their high points, their low points, their dominance and their insignificance during the race. We’re going to go in alphabetical order.
AG2R - Team placing : 10th. Noted moments in the Tour : Christophe Moreau finished 4th in stage 8 on the climb up to Tignes. This took him to 7th place on the GC. He climbed to 6th after stage 9.
High GC positions : Stephane Goubert - 27th
High Stage placings :
Martin Elmiger - 3rd (Stage17)
Christophe Moreau - 4th (Stage 8)
Agritubel - Team placing : 17th. I think AGR will be known as the “other wildcard” entrant in the 2007 TdF with little of note in terms of memorable moments. Freddy Bichot picked up the Combativeness award in the final stage.
High GC position : Moises Duenas Nevado - 39th
High Stage placings :
Romain Feillu - 5th (Stages 1 & 2)
Astana - Team placing : Ejected After Stage 15. The first team removed from the Tour were flying high on top of the Team standings thanks to strong showings from Andreas Kloden and Andrey Kushechkin. Two stage wins by Alexandre Vinokourov looked to have settled things a little after Vino’s earlier crash and shocking injuries. But then the blood-doping scandal broke, Vinokourov and the entire team were asked to leave.
High Stage placings :
Alexandre Vinokourov - 1st (Stages 13 & 15)
Barloworld - Team placing : 15th. The revelation of the 2007 Tour de France. This is how you make the most of a wildcard invite with a couple of stage victories and taking ou the King of the Mountains competition courtesy of Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez. The team was impressive across the board riding up the front of the peloton when required and generally making their presence felt.
High GC position : Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez - 11th
High Stage placings :
Robert Hunter - 1st (Stage 11), 2nd (Stage 4), 3rd (Stage 12)
Juan Mauricio Soler - 1st (Stage 9), 3rd (Stage 14)
Bouyges Telecom - Team placing : 14th. Matthieu Sprick picked up the combativeness award for his attacks in Stage 4.
High GC position : Xavier Florencio - 46th
High Stage placings :
Laurent Lefevre - 3rd (Stage 18), 5th (Stage 7)
Caisse D’Epargne - Team placing : 2nd. Here was a team who put in a strong showing throughout the entire Tour, challenging for GC honours and stage victories yet falling frustratingly short each time. High stage placings were the order of the day without managing to take out a major honour.
High GC positions : Alejandro Valverde - 6th, Oscar Pereiro Sio - 10th
High Stage placings :
Alejandro Valverde - 2nd (Stage 9), 3rd (Stage 8)
Vladimir Karpets - 3rd (Stage 19)
Cofidis - Team placing : Ejected after stage 16. The other team to be thrown out of the 2007 Tour thanks to the positive drugs test of Christian Moreni. Before that the team was having a memorable tour with some jersey wins and high stage placings. Most notable were Stephane Auge who held the polka dot jersey for stages 3 & 4 only to give it up to team mate Sylvain Chavanel who held it on stages 5, 6 and 7. Sylvain Chavanel won the combativity award in Stage 5 and Bradley Wiggins also picked up a combativity award for his lone break away ride in Stage 6.
High GC position : N/A
High Stage placings :
Bradley Wiggins - 4th (Prologue), 5th (Stage 13)
Credit Agricole - Team placing - 9th. Thor Hushovd picked up a stage win early on and Patrice Halgand was awarded the combative prize for Stage 10 in a Tour that provided only rare highlights.
High GC position : Dmitriy Fofonov - 26th
High Stage placings :
Thor Hushovd - 1st (Stage 4), 2nd (Stage 1), 2nd (Stage 20)
Patrice Halgand - 4th (Stage 10)
CSC - Team placing : 3rd. There always seemed to be a member of the CSC team up towards the front of the race. Whether it was Jens Voigt in a break away (For which he took out the combativity award in Stage 17) or Carlos Sastre trying to make it happen in the mountains, they figured prominently and with great consistency. Not only that but Fabian Cancellara took out the Prologue and then won the 3rd stage, holding onto the yellow jersey for 6 stages of the Tour.
High GC position : Carlos Sastre - 4th
High Stage placings :
Fabian Cancellara - 1st (Prologue), 1st (Stage 3), 2nd (Stage 11)
Jens Voigt - 4th (Stage 17)
Discovery Channel - Team placing - 1st. Far and away the best team of the Tour not only for the strength of their personnel but also the strength of their tactics and the way they both attacked and defended. They consistently put riders in break aways, protected the yellow jersey when they had it and took stage victories. It was an all around impressive display. Early on Vladimir Gusev took the white jersey before it was won by Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer’s win in the 19th Stage time trial was an awesome display and Alberto Contador’s explosive climbing speed was a sight to behold. Throw in the work done at the front of the peloton on the big mountain stages by George Hincapie and Yaroslav Popovych and it was a true team effort.
High GC positions : Alberto Contador - 1st, Levi Leipheimer - 3rd, Yaroslav Popovych - 8th.
High Stage placings :
Alberto Contador - 1st (Stage 14), 3rd (Stage 16) 4th (Stage 9)
Levi Leipheimer - 1st (Stage 19), 2nd (Stage 16) 4th (Stage 14)
George Hincapie - 3rd (Prologue)
Yaroslav Popovych - 4th (Stage 19)
Euskaltel - Euskadi - Team placing - 5th. Although the Euskaltel team were often prominent in the mountain stages, stage victories were narrowly elusive. Two top 10 finishers is a good indication of how consistently strong the team were. Amets Txurruka was rewarded for his aggression during the race by being awarded the Most Aggressive Rider of the Tour.
High GC positions : Haimar Zubeldia - 5th, Mikel Astarloza - 9th
High Stage placings :
Inigo Landaluze - 2nd (Stage 7)
Haimar Zubeldia - 3rd (Stage 15)
Francaise de Jeux - Team placing - 19th. A stage win and a second placing by Sandy Casar made this a reasonably successful Tour de France for the FDJ squad.
High GC position : Thomas Lovkvist - 64th
High Stage placings :
Sandy Casar - 1st (Stage 18), 2nd (Stage 10)
Sebastien Chavanel - 4th (Stage 1), 4th (Stage 6)
Gerolsteiner - Team Placing - 16th. Difficult to find anything of note to mention about the GST performance other than Markus Fothen’s second placing in the 17th stage and the occasional appearance of Bernhard Kohl at the head of the group. Sprinter Robert Forster could never really get going with a best placing of 6th (twice).
High GC position : Bernhard Kohl - 31st
High Stage placings :
Markus Fothen - 2nd (Stage 17)
Robert Forster - 6th (Stage 1), 6th (Stage 3)
Fabian Wegmann - 6th (Stage 7)
Lampre - Fondital - Team Placing - 8th. Daniele Bennati’s 2 stage wins capped a pretty good Tour for the Lampre - Fondital squad. They spent most of the Tour at the head of the peloton, particularly when chasing down the early stage break aways, often helping Quick Step in whipping up the pace.
High GC position : Tadej Valjavec - 19th
High Stage placing :
Daniele Bennati - 1st (Stage 17), 1st (Stage 20), 3rd (Stage 5), 6th (Stage 6), 4th (Stage 12)
Danilo Napolitano - 3rd (Stage 3), 5th (Stage 4)
Allessandro Ballan - 5th (Stage 11)
Liquigas - Team Placing - 11th. Always prominent throughout the Tour, the LIQ tam were rewarded with a stage victory pus a few minor places. Whenever a break away was orchestrated there invariably seemed to have a member of the team at hand.
High GC position : Manuel Beltran - 18th
High Stage placing :
Filippo Pozzato - 1st (Stage 5), 3rd (Stage 2), 4th (Stage 11)
Michael Albasini - 3rd (Stage 10)
Murilo Antoniobil Fischer - 3rd (Stage 11)
Milram - Team Placing - 18th. Through Erik Zabel the Green Jersey was Milram’s for 1 day and the sprinter also kept the team’s colours flying at the end of each stage.
High GC position : Christian Knees - 47th
High Stage placing :
Erik Zabel - 2nd (Stage 3), 4th (Stage 4), 5th (Stage 5), 3rd (Stage 6), 2nd (Stage 12), 3rd (Stage 20)
Predictor - Lotto - Team Placing - 7th. An outstanding Tour for PRL and for Cadel Evans in particular, only 24 seconds away from standing on the top step of the podium in Paris. Add to that a stage win by Robbie McEwen and the team can be well pleased with their efforts. Chris Horner was courageous in his support of Evans during the arduous Pyrenean stages. A few more team members able to ride for Evans might have changed the result a tad.
High GC positions : Cadel Evans - 2nd, Chris Horner - 15th
High Stage placing :
Robbie McEwen - 1st (Stage 1)
Cadel Evans - 3rd (Stage 8), 2nd (Stage 13), 4th (Stage 16), 2nd (Stage 19)
Quick Step - Innergetic - Team Placing - 12th. No team had more stage wins the QSI with Tom Boonen taking a couple, Gert Steegmans winning one in a lead out that was so quick Boonen couldn’t get past and a successful break away by Cedric Vasseur. In the early stages it was the Quick Step Team that reeled in every break away to give Boonen sprinting chances. The result was a fine Green Jersey win for the Belgian sprinter.
High GC position : Juan Manuel Garate - 21st
High Stage placings :
Gert Steegmans - 1st (Stage 2)
Tom Boonen - 2nd (Stage 2), 4th (Stage 3), 1st (Stage 6), 1st (Stage 12), 5th (Stage 18), 5th (Stage 20)
Cedric Vasseur - 1st (Stage 10)
Juan Manuel Garate 5th (Stage 15)
Rabobank - Team Placing - 4th. Everything was on track for a wonderfully successful Tour for the RAB tam, but the storm clouds began brewing early on over the missed documentation supplied by Rasmussen earlier in the year. Rasmussen took both the yellow jersey and the polka dot jersey on Stage 8 and was still wearing them when his team ejected him from the race. Herculean performances were put in by his team-mates, most notably Michael Boogerd who was having an outstanding final Tour. The team was understandably gutted when Rasmussen left after Stage 16.
High GC position : Michael Boogerd - 16th
High Stage placings :
Michael Rasmussen - 1st (Stage 8), 2nd (Stage 14), 1st (Stage 16)
Michael Boogerd - 4th (Stage 18)
Saunier Duval - Prodir - Team placing : 6th. Noted moments in the Tour : David Millar held the climbers polka-dot jersey for stages 1 & 2. Millar also managed to be on hand to condemn every rider that was thrown out of the Tour with a solid sound bite or two. That, and his skin condition which was the subject of much conversation by commentators each day, occasionally brought the team to my attention. They were also regularly mistaken by my 7 year old son as the leaders of the Tour mistaking their yellow jersey for the leader’s jersey.
High GC positions : Iban Mayo - 16th, Juanjo Cobo - 20th
High Stage placings :
Iban Mayo - 2nd (Stage 8)
David de la Fuente - 3rd (Stage 7)
T-Mobile Team - Team Placing - 13th. A brief moment in the sun for Linus Gerdemann was the high point for the T-Mobile Team. He held the yellow jersey and the white jersey after a momentous stage victory up on Le Grand-Bornand. This was to be some consolation for the team because they were about to lose team leader Mick Rogers in the next stage just as he was moving into the virtual lead in a crash while descending the Cormet du Roselend. Kim Kirchen assumed the team leadership role and rode bravely to finish inside the top 10 on the GC.
High GC position : Kim Kirchen - 7th
High Stage placing :
Linus Gerdemann - 1st (Stage 7), 2nd (Stage 8)
So there we have the highlights, some of the low lights and some who passed unnoticed despite their best efforts. Unfortunately this year’s Tour de France was not without its fair share of controversies, but it ended up one of the closest ever finishes and threw up 1 or 2 extremely exciting prospects for us to follow in the years to come.
Tour de France At a Glance
Here’s my ”at a glance” rundown of the 2007 Tour de France.
Number of Stage Wins
Quick Step - Innergetic - 4 (Gert Steegmans [2], Cedric Vasseur [10], Tom Boonen [6 & 12])
Team CSC - 2 (Fabian Cancellara [P & 3])
Rabobank - 2 (Michael Rasmussen [8 & 16])
Barloworld - 2 (Juan Mauricio Soler [9], Robert Hunter [11])
Astana - 2 (Alexandre Vinokourov [13 & 15]) * provisional *
Discovery - 2 (Alberto Contador [14], Levi Leipheimer [19])
Lampre - 2 (Daniele Bennati [17 & 20])
Predictor-Lotto - 1 (Robbie McEwen[1])
Credit Agricole - 1 (Thor Hushovd [4])
Liquigas - 1 (Filippo Pozzato [5])
T-Mobile - 1 (Linus Gerdemann [7])
Francaise de Jeux - 1 (Sandy Casar [18])
Most Combative Rider
Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel - Euskadi)
You can also read my highs and lows from the 2007 Tour.
Prologue
| Stage Win | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Polka Dot | - | - |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 1
| Stage Win | Robbie McEwen | Predictor Lotto |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Robbie McEwen | Predictor Lotto |
| Polka Dot | David Millar | Saunier Duval |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 2
| Stage Win | Gert Steegmans | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | David Millar | Saunier Duval |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 3
| Stage Win | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Stephane Auge | Cofidis |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 4
| Stage Win | Thor Hushovd | Credit Agricole |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Stephane Auge | Cofidis |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 5
| Stage Win | Filippo Pozzato | Liquigas |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Erik Zabel | Milram |
| Polka Dot | Sylvain Chavanel | Cofidis |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Team CSC |
Stage 6
| Stage Win | Tom Boonen | Liquigas |
| Yellow | Fabian Cancellara | Team CSC |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Sylvain Chavanel | Cofidis |
| White | Vladamir Gusev | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Team CSC |
Stage 7
| Stage Win | Linus Gerdemann | T-Mobile |
| Yellow | Linus Gerdemann | T-Mobile |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Sylvain Chavanel | Cofidis |
| White | Linus Gerdemann | T-Mobile |
| Team | T-Mobile |
Stage 8
| Stage Win | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Linus Gerdemann | T-Mobile |
| Team | Rabobank |
Stage 9
| Stage Win | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Caisse dEpargne |
Stage 10
| Stage Win | Cedric Vasseur | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Team CSC |
Stage 11
| Stage Win | Robert Hunter | Barloworld |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Team CSC |
Stage 12
| Stage Win | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Team CSC |
Stage 13
| Stage Win | Alexandre Vinokourov | Astana |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 14
| Stage Win | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Discovery Channel |
Stage 15
| Stage Win | Alexandre Vinokourov | Rabobank |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Astana |
Stage 16
| Stage Win | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Yellow | Michael Rasmussen | Rabobank |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Discovery Channel |
Stage 17
| Stage Win | Daniele Bennati | Lampre-Fondital |
| Yellow | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Discovery Channel |
Stage 18
| Stage Win | Sandy Casar | Francaise de Jeux |
| Yellow | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Discovery Channel |
Stage 19
| Stage Win | Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel |
| Yellow | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Discovery Channel |
Stage 20
| Stage Win | Daniele Bennati | Lampre-Fondital |
| Yellow | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Green | Tom Boonen | Quick Step - Innergetic |
| Polka Dot | Juan Mauricio Soler | Barloworld |
| White | Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel |
| Team | Discovery Channel |
Cadel Evans Watch 2007 Ends in Paris
When I started my Cadel-centric watch of the 2007 Tour de France I had never imagined that the journey to Paris would be quite so eventful - I doubt anyone could. Evans’ performance was never really in doubt, but the drama of 31″ separating the top 3 finishers on the GC helped make the final Time Trial of the Tour enthralling viewing.
For 20-odd years now I’ve been following the Tour de France from Australia. We’ve come a helluva long way from getting a highlights package on a sports show aired weeks (probably even months) after the event through to a nightly half-hour packageand on to the current situation where we get ever stage live, the sport has grown down here enormously in popularity.
Having an honest to goodness contender for top GC honours certainly doesn’t hurt the growth in popularity here in Australia and it definitely felt a bit weird to be sitting at the SCG watching the Sydney Swans play Richmond and overhearing a couple of guys behind me discussing the events of the previous stage and opining on how the Time Trial would pan out. We are in a brave new era, indeed.
Here are what I considered to be my highs and lows from this year’s Tour de France.
Highs
Cadel Evans. The performance of Cadel Evans was nothing short of sensational. Love or hate his riding style there is no questioning his guts and sheer determination. He was obviously out-climbed by a couple of pure climbers but that didn’t stop him from digging down deep into his stores of courage and battling right to the finish line. A podium finish is nothing short of what he deserves.
Alberto Contador. It’s always exciting when a talented youngster enters the scene and Contador has announced himself in the ultimate way possible by winning this year’s Tour. A stage win and the White Jersey (Best Youth Rider) is icing on a pretty impressive cake. Where to from here?
Levi Leipheimer. You would have to consider yourself unlucky to come withing 31 seconds from the Tour winner and still only manage 3rd, but Leipheimer’s Stage 19 time trial was an awesome display of sustained power. Equally as impressive was his support of Contador in the mountains and his ability to continually fight back when put into difficulty.
Tom Boonen. Winning the Green Sprinters Jersey and a couple of stage wins marks a very successful Tour for the Belgian sprinter. He answered every challenge in the best possible way and his team rallied nicely around him when required.
Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez. Another young newcomer who came from nowhere with a gutsy stage win handing wildcards Barloworld the first of their two wins. Then, to continue on in the Pyrenees was enormously impressive. he hasn’t got what you would call the most fluent of riding styles but it certainly is effective.
Johan Bruyneel & Discovery Channel. The tactics were first class and the execution was almost flawless. It is refreshing to see a team attack with a purpose and they have reaped every reward that they deserve.
Michael Boogerd. It would be remiss to neglect to mention the effort that Boogerd put in for his Rabobank team-mate Michael Rasmussen while they carried the yellow jersey. Boogerd gave absolutely every ounce of himself to his team during this race and surely everyone felt for him when Rasmussen was dismissed from the Tour. All of that fight and determination in his last Tour de France wasn’t for nothing because he gained the respect of millions of cycling fans around the world.
Lows
Stuart O’Grady and Michael Rogers. The double blow of the crashes of O’Grady and Rogers was a double blow to me, watching from an Australian perspective. It was a shame to lose Rogers in such a way just as he had moved into the virtual lead of the Tour over the Cormet de Roseland in Stage 8. He has promised big things and finally as a team leader it would have been fascinating to watch how far he could have gone this year. Stewie O’Grady is such a plucky rider I’m sure we would have seen him in a break or two after the Alps. I wish them both speedy recoveries.
Alexandre Vinokourov. There has been a lot said and written about the blood doping situation and with the B-sample positive and what looks to be legal issues pending I’m not going to rehash it here except to say it was disappointing but sadly predictable given his unbelievable turnaround in performance from one stage to the next.
Patrik Sinkewitz & Christian Moreni. Drugs and all that fuss. It’s all been said. They will serve their penalties and we move on - ever vigilant.
Michael Rasmussen. This was a wild roller-coaster of a ride with emotions ranging from deep admiration for his two stage wins to continued concern over the breaking news about his missed notifications of his whereabouts during training. His dumping from the Tour by his team on the night of what I would regard as his best stage victory was a vicious blow. Unfortunately there will always be question marks over his performance as a result.
If anyone else would like to chime in with their own highs and lows from this year’s Tour are welcome to add their comments.
