Cycling Beat

After another dramatic day in the Pyrenees there is still plenty of scope for unexpected changes in the Tour. Heading into the rest day Michael Rasmussen can feel satisfied with still hanging on to the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador can be satisfied that he has given Rasmussen a little taste of how strong he still feels, and Alexandre Vinokourov can be satisfied with a stirring stage victory.

Alexandre Vinokourov

“Yesterday, I admit, was a terrible day. It really affected my mind and that’s one of the reason I finished so far behind the peloton at Plateau de Beille. When I got back to the hotel last night I realized that the hope of victory in the Tour de France was over for me. The team asked me if I wanted to abandon but I told them I’d never give up. I spoke with the guys and they all said they’d support me with my new goal, a stage victory.
“Since the crash, I haven’t been able to fully recover but I’m always optimistic. Today was indeed a good day. It’s no time for regrets about the general classification I just had a bit of bad luck but that’s race.”

Michael Rasmussen

“My big objective today was to control the race today and stay with Contador if he attacked, which is something we’ve learned that he’s likely to do.
“He attacked multiple times and each time it was really, really fast. He has a fantastic acceleration which I could not follow but I was able to fight my way back each time but he had a bit of an advantage because he was so fast that he caught the motorbikes a couple of times at the top of the Col de Peyresourde which made it even more difficult for me. In the end, I managed to stay with him until the top but if I hadn’t, I would have been in trouble because Contador had the benefit of having Hincapie waiting for him at the top of the final climb.
“Contador has the best acceleration in the whole peloton and I was under pressure but I still stayed with him and I’m happy with that effort.
“We still have the hardest stage of the entire race remaining. On Wednesday we finish on top of the Col d’Aubisque so nothing is final yet.”

Alberto Contador

“It was a good day for me. It turned out to be a spectacular stage and I wanted to manage a good place. Other than what happened in front, it ended well for me. I tried to attack and I hoped to be able to drop Rasmussen but he continues to prove that he’s really strong.
“Each time I attacked he was able to come back to me, but I have to take inspiration from the last two days because we have taken time out of the time trial specialists and Rasmussen and I have a good lead in the general classification and there’s still another very tough mountain stage yet to come. This is my first Tour and it was meant to be a learning experience but I’ve had great support from my team. It’s an honor to ride for Discovery Channel because I always admired the way they controlled the race."

Cadel Evans

"I was looking for Astana and the other guys to follow. What am I supposed to do when I'm on my own? As you saw today and yesterday, Rasmussen and Contador are pretty good on the climbs."

Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile, 2nd Stage 15)

“I’m delighted with the way things went today. I felt really good. Our tactic, to go with the first group, worked perfectly. Of course, it’s a pity that Vino caught us. But, it’s no shame to lose to him. I’m now looking to the GC. On Wednesday, I’ll give it everything again.”

Juanjo Cobo (Saunier Duval, 4th Stage 15)

“This morning we were saying that Mayo, De la Fuente or I should be among the breakaways of the day. We tried our best and the break seemed to fly down the first mountain pass. Although the leading group was made of more than twenty men, we were going well. I was doing OK, which I believe Vinokourov noticed, because he wouldn´t take his eyes off me. He followed me wherever I went and I did the same with him. We knew that the rider who managed to lead over the top of the last climb would take the stage, so we bet everything on it.

Pat McQuaid (President of the UCI)

"From an image point of view, it would be better if it was not Rasmussen but one of the youngest riders winning the Tour

But he has not broken any rule so far since two no-shows are not a doping offence."
Full story here.

David Millar (about Rasmussen missing his notification duties)

"It is unacceptable that Rasmussen did not manage to give notice of his whereabouts. It is understandable he had problems communicating his address from Mexico, but it is up to him to make sure his federation receives notification.

"He started the race knowing what would happen but did nothing to rectify the situation and now we are all screwed, and the Tour is in the shit.

"He took no notice of warnings from the UCI (cycling's world governing body) though he deserved to be punished.

"He has either been unprofessional or has used the system.''

Story at Fox Sports

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. My Cadel-centric summary continues with Stage 15 of the 2007 Tour de France.

The Stage

It's the 2nd day in the Pyrenees and another day that promises to be a tough one. It's a 196km journey from Foix to Loudenvielle le Louron with 2 Category 2 climbs, 2 Category 1 climbs and 1 Hors Category climb.

The Highlights

The story of the day was the return of Alexandre Vinokourov who, after losing 28'50" yesterday, came hurling back in a brilliant display to take the lead up the final climb of the day, the Category 1 climb of the Col de Peyresourde and then descended like a stone winning by 51". Coming in second was Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) and Haimar Zubeldia (Euskatel) both with the same time.

Meanwhile Alberto Contador waited until inside the last couple of kilometres of the Peyresourde before he attacked Rasmussen (and the rest). Rasmussen had been given great service all day by team-mate Michael Boogerd and it was up to him to cover Contador. He made the gap to Contador who attacked him again...and again...and again. Although Rasmussen looked to be struggling he was able to dig deep time and again and managed to wind up crossing the line on Contador's wheel.

It looked like a lot of effort on Contador's part for no gain. But perhaps what it was that Contador was doing was firing a shot across Rasmussen's bow, telling him that he will attack in a couple of days so you'd better think hard about it during tomorrow's rest day.

Cadel Watch

Evans covered and covered until Contador attacked and simply couldn't go with him or Rasmussen. In the end he was able to limit his loss to only around 1 minute, crossing the line along with Kloden, Leipheimer and Sastre and the other challengers for his 3rd place position. It is becoming more obvious that he must now try to limit the time he loses to Rasmussen and Contador and hope for a miracle in the Time Trial.

Top 10 for Stage 15

The Contenders - GC Top Ten

Check all the details of the entire stage.

The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : Astana

Well I guess I can take solace from the fact that my predictions for stage 14 were roughly half right. Contador and Rasmussen have cleared out to stamp themselves as the hot favourites to win the overall GC. The Discovery Team put in an almost flawless tactical performance with Hincapie and then Popovych setting a gruelling pace up the last climb before a feint by Leipheimer triggered an all out attack by Contador. And the reward - another stage win on the Plateau de Baille for Discovery.Astana, on the other hand looks a spent force and Vinokourov is just making up the numbers from here on in. He may as well just work his guts out for Kloden to try to get his team-mate up onto the podium.

Cadel Evans, too, looks as though his chances of winning are severely dented but at least is still in the running for the podium. With another 2 tough days in the Pyrenees and no team to help him it's hard to see him regaining his legs to be able to put either Contador or Rasmussen into serious difficulty.

Speaking of Rasmussen, he is going from strength to strength getting great help from his team, most notably Boogerd riding in his last Tour. Barring a major mishap between now and Paris it's hard to see him getting beaten. Hopefully, too, he learned from the last couple of kilometres of the stage that he's not going to get any help from anyone. Contador rightfully turned him down flat when he invited the Discovery man through to help with the hard work up to the finish line.

So what of Stage 15? 196km from Foix to Loudenvielle le Louron over an Hors category climb and a Category 1 climb before a final 12km dash for the line. More of the same I should think. Naturally there will be the optimistic break away clearing out early again and they will probably be left to go while those at the top of the GC go at each other again. I can't imagine Discovery will change their tactics from the last stage and will again try to control the pace before attacking Rasmussen with everything they've got. With a 12km descent and run to the finish it's possible that we might have a few more at the line than just Contador and Rasmussen.

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. This is my Cadel-centric summary of Stage 14 of the 2007 Tour de France.

The Stage

The Tour heads into the Pyrenees today with a 197km day that includes 2 Hors Category climbs and a Category 2 climb. The first is the cat 2 Cote de Saint-Saraille which comes at the 9km mark, then, at 146.5km is the first of the biggies, the climb up Port de Pailheres is a 16.8km drag up an average incline of 7.2% and then the final 15.9km is up to Plateau-de-Beille at an average incline of 7.9%.

The Highlights

That kooky Dane Michael Rasmussen refuses to play by the rules, chucking a spanner into the works of the Predictor-Lotto Team and probably the Astana Team by getting himself into an early break clearing out to around 40" ahead of the peloton with 26 other escapees. By the 31km mark Rasmussen was caught and his fellow opportunists would have been cursing his presence all the way.

This was all after the first climb of the day in which Mauricio Soler managed to grab 2nd place and a handy 9 points which put him equal with Rasmussen for the polka dots.

A breakaway of 6 riders, Gutierrez (GCE), Perez and Txurruka (EUS), Kuschynski (LIQ) Barredo (QSI) and Colom (AST) got themselves a lead of up to 11'20" before the peloton led by Saunier Duval began to reel them back in.

On the climb up to Port de Pailheres the lead group dropped to 4 with Perez and Txurruka (EUS), Gutierrez (GCE) and Colom (AST) maintaining their lead which had substantially been reduced to around 4 minutes.

But the sensation of the climb was the complete destruction of Alexandre Vinokourov who looked a broken man, waving off cameras and barely able to turn the pedals over. Going over the top of the climb in 6th place was Mauricio Soler which put him into the outright lead for the polka dots.

The final climb was one attack after another, mainly coming from Contador and Rasmussen as they hit the survivors of the peloton time and time again before they finally made their decisive move with 5km to go.

In the end it was Contador who surged past Rasmussen in the final 50m to take the stage. Soler took off with 1.5km to go in a last bid to catch the 2 leaders and managed 3rd place 37" behind with Levi Leipheimer digging deep for 4th.

Cadel Watch

Cadel has finally cracked. He was able to cover every move until 5km to go when he just had nothing left. First he dropped off the back wheels of Contador and Rasmussen. Then Soler, Leipheimer and Sastre caught and dropped. Finally Kloden and Kasechkin picked him up and he had recovered himself to stay with them to come in in 7th place, 1'52" behind Contador. The upshot is that Contador has moved into 2nd place and Cadel has dropped back to 3rd with 2 more hard days to come.

Top 10 for Stage 14

Alberto Contador
Michael Rasmussen (s.t.)
Mauricio Soler - 00'37"
Levi Leipheimer - 00'40"
Carlos Sastre - 00'53"
Andreas Kloden - 01'52"
Cadel Evans - 01'52"
Antonio Colom - 02'23"
Andrey Kashechkin - 02'23"
Yaroslav Popovych - 03'06
 

The Contenders - GC Top Ten

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 2' 23"
3  Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 3' 04"
4 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 4' 29"
5 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 4'38''
6 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 5' 50"
7 Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) 6' 58"
8 Mikel Astarloza (Eukatel) 8' 25"
9 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Espargne) 9' 45"
10 Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery) 10' 55"
 
The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : Discovery

The 2007 Tour is about to enter the 3rd week and the race is heading into the Pyrenees. Predictions are always fraught with danger particularly in a sport where just about anything can happen and even more so when someone like me recklessly chooses to chuck it out there. But nevertheless here's the way I see the 14th stage unfolding.

Stage 14 - Mazamet Plateau-de-Beille

The usual early breakaway will take place as those who saved themselves in yesterday's time trial will make good use of their early fresh legs. Now, I know what you're thinking. The way Iban Mayo and Alejandro Valverde rode yesterday, their legs must be fresh as daisies, after all, they couldn't possibly ride that slow and be tired afterwards, right? But no, I'm fairly certain any moves they try will be covered.

I expect the Astana team to be applying pressure all day. With Kloden Kashechkin and Vinokourov all looking particularly strong they should drive things along at a rapid rate. Vino is going to stamp himself today with the aim of cracking Rasmussen and Evans. It's safe to say that they're his last remaining challengers with the dark horses from the Discovery Channel Team (Contador & Leipheimer).

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. This is my Cadel-centric summary of Stage 13 of the 2007 Tour de France.

The Stage

We have finally come to the first Time Trial of the Tour and what promises to be one of the defining stages of the race. Certainly it's the stage that should clear up just who is the real favourite to be wearing the yellow jersey in Paris. The expectation is that Rasmussen should give up the leader's jersey today, it's just unclear who will be lifting it off his shoulders.

We are in Albi for a 54km test against the clock over a tricky little course that includes a steady uphill start before a category 4 climb that peaks at the 38km mark.

The Highlights

The weather played a big part in the stage with the heavens opening up and drenching the course. All care was essential for getting around unscathed, just ask Fabian Cancellara, winner of the Prologue, who crashed near the end of the 54km course.

Bradley Wiggins was out early before it got really wet and set the time to beat of 01:08:48. This was always going to prove difficult to better the wetter it got. When David Millar finished in 3rd place he had this to say : "Oh man, it’s so dangerous! I almost stopped on the descents, but I quite like time trialing in the rain: it feels faster. I had good fun out there but it’s treacherous, absolutely treacherous! When you’re on time trial equipment everything is a lot stiffer, your tire pressure is a lot higher and we’re not used to riding on these wheels or these bikes so you just don’t know how far you can push it."

But the big, big news of the day was the ride of Alexandre Vinokourov who was riding with a cold anger in his belly and ripped the course apart. He crossed the line in 1:06:38 and has dragged himself well and truly back into the race.

Cadel Watch

A ride that is 2'41" quicker than Michael Rasmussen could put Evans into yellow tonight as long as someone like Andreas Kloden doesn't beat him by more than 1'10". 

1st time check - at the 18km mark at 00:24:06 which was 57" behind Vino, 23" behind Kloden, 1'41" ahead of Iban Mayo, 1'21" ahead of Valverde and 45" ahead of Michael Rasmussen. At this point, that puts Cadel in 2nd place on the road.

2nd time check - at the 35.6km mark at 00:45:12 which was 1'12" behind Vino, 4" ahead of Kloden, 3'21" ahead of Mayo, 2'52" ahead of Valverde, 1'28" ahead of Rasmussen.

3rd time check - at the 38.5km mark at 00:51:08 which was 1'01" behind Vino, 18" ahead of Kloden, 3'53" ahead of Mayo, 3'33" ahead of Valverde, 1'36" ahead of Rasmussen.

4th time check - at the 49.0km mark at 01:01:55 which was 1'17" behind Vino, 21" ahead of Kloden, 1'36" ahead of Rasmussen. 

Finish - 01:07:48 which was 1'14" behind Vinokourov, 25" ahead of Kloden.

A mighty effort by Michael Rasmussen ensured that he retained the yellow jersey, actually capturing Alejandro Valverde on his way to a terrific time trial time of 01:09:29.

Cadel Evans moves up to 2nd on the GC. Vinokourov looms large in his back window.

Top 10 for the Time Trial

Alexandre Vinokourov - 01:06:34
Cadel Evans - 01:07:48
Andreas Kloden - 01:08:13
Andrey Kashechkin - 01:08:18
Bradley Wiggins - 01:08:48
Yaroslav Popovych - 01:08:50
Alberto Contador - 01:08:52
Sylvain Chavenal - 01:09:12
Levi Leipheimer - 01:09:13

The Contenders - GC Top Ten

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2 Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 1' 00"
3 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 2' 31"
4 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 2'34''
5 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 3' 37"
6 Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) 4' 23"
7 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 4' 45"
8 Mikel Astarloza (Eukatel) 5' 07"
9 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 5' 10"
10 Kim Kirchen (T-Mobile) 5' 29"
 
The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : Astana

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. This is my Cadel-centric summary of Stage 11 of the 2007 Tour de France.

The Stage

The 12th stage travels along the bottom of the country for 178.5km from Montpellier to Castres. The first 100km contains 3 category 4 climbs and then at the 118km mark the big climb of the day, the 2nd category climb up Montee de la Jeante which is a 10.4km climb at an average gradient of 6.1%. This stage should prove to be a little bit tougher than your usual transitional stage with the last climb possibly sorting out a few of the top contenders. We may see some movement in the GC. 

The Highlights

Pierrick Fedrigo (Bouyges Telecom) and Amets Txurruka (Euskatel - Euskadi) got themselves into a breakaway together and cleared out to around 11'30" before the peloton began to reel them back in. By the time they reached the bottom of the 2nd category climb of the Montee de la Jeante they were down to 6'00" in front.

The promise of the effect that the climb would have on the field amounted to a heck of a lot of shadow-boxing but not much actual action. It was funny to watch the rest of the peloton's reaction when Vino ranged up to the front half way up the climb. You could actually see the big men of the other teams gritting their teeth in anticipation of the effort they were about to make. But the attack never happened and everyone was happy to save their legs for the time trial tomorrow.

Cadel Watch

Again it was just a day for covering moves, watching for anything to develop and making sure no time was lost. Here's what he thought might have happened : “The final climb is pretty tough and I think we’ll see a selection of about 30 riders reach the top together but there’s a long road to the finish. It’s fairly technical but there’s enough time for those who get dropped to catch up. It’s definitely more than just a transitional stage. We should expect anything and, of course, if Astana try a repeat, things could get really interesting.”

The Contenders

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) 2' 35"
3 Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) 2' 39"
4 Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 2' 41"
5 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 3' 08"
6 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 3' 39"
7 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 3'50''
8 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 3' 53"
13 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 6' 36"
14 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 6' 38"
15 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 6' 42"
18 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 7' 10"
19 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 8' 05"

The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : CSC

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. This is my Cadel-centric summary of Stage 11 of the 2007 Tour de France.

The Stage

The Tour has reached the Mediterrenean and the city of Marseille is the starting point for the 11th stage of the race. Another flat stage lies ahead for the field of 171 remaining riders with a distance of 182.5 km to be covered. There's only a category 4 bump at the 38km mark and this won't bother anyone. It all depends on how seriously the peloton wants to cover any breakaway, but I suspect we're going to see another day for the opportunists.

The Highlights

There were plenty of attempted breaks early on and one that looked as though it was going to succeed but it turned out to be another day for the sprinters in the end.

At around the 84km to go mark a break away was established that was initially made up of Gilbert (FDJ), Wegmann (GST), Fofonov (C.A) and Florencio (BTL) before David Millar (Saunier Duval) bridged the gap to join them. They worked together to get a lead of up to around 7'30".

And then Astana put the foot down at the head of the peloton and the easy ride for the bunch was over - and how. The peloton split to pieces under the extreme pressure from the increased pace with the biggest loser being Christophe Moreau (AG2R). Within around 30km the break had been captured and the gap between the 1st peloton and the 2nd peloton had opened to around 1'35".

The strong pace and flat terrain set up a hotly contested bunch sprint and with a crash inside the final kilometre it was down to South Africa's Robert Hunter (Barloworld) to outpace Fabian Cancellara with Murilo Fischer in 3rd. The win makes him the first South African ever to win a stage of the Tour de France.

Stage 11 recap.

Cadel Watch
The big danger today was getting caught out by the big Astana move but Cadel was right there at the front of the peloton working like buggery to ensure he was in no danger of being dropped. the end result for him today was to finish with the lead peloton and remain unchanged in 4th place on the GC. (Officially he finished the stage in 22nd place). Of his rivals Christophe Moreau has dropped from 6th to 14th place going from 3'18" behind Rasmussen to 6'38".

The Contenders

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) 2' 35"
3 Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) 2' 39"
4 Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 2' 41"
5 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 3' 08"
6 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 3' 39"
7 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 3'50''
8 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 3' 53"
14 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 3' 18"
15 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 6' 36"
16 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 6' 42"
18 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 7' 10"
19 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 8' 05"

The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : CSC

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. This is my Cadel-centric summary of Stage 10 of the 2007 Tour de France. 

After the action of the Alps, I'm expecting things to settle down for the first transitional stage, the 10th stage, with the most likely scenario being some sort of break away succeeding. I wouldn't expect much, if any, change in the GC contenders during the day's stage.

The Stage
Beginning at Tallard, the course is a 229km journey over fairly flat terrain with a couple of 4th category climbs and a couple of 3rd category climbs before reaching Marseille. It's the kind of route that will be a relief to the field who struggled over the mountains and will give the opportunists the chance to try to break away and steal a stage win.

The Highlights
As expected today featured a breakaway of 11 riders who stayed around 10 minutes clear of the peloton just about all day. The winner of the day was super domestique for Quickstep Cedric Vasseur (finally, a Frenchman wins a stage) with a close sprint over Sandy Casar (Francaise de Jeux) and Michael Albasini (Liquigas) in 3rd. It was Vasseur's second win with his first coming way back in 1997.

In the bunch sprint for the minor green jersey points, Sebastien Chavanel edged out Tom Boonen leaving Boonen with a 16 point lead over Erik Zabel.

Cadel Watch
Today was a day to stay out of trouble and recover from the rigours of the past few stages. No news is good news and that's what Cadel delivered today.

The Contenders

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) 2' 35"
3 Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) 2' 39"
4 Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 2' 41"
5 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 3' 08"
6 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 3' 18"
7 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 3' 39"
8 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 3'50''
9 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 3' 53"
15 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 6' 36"
16 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 6' 42"
18 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 7' 10"
21 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 8' 05"

The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : CSC

As an Australian watching the 2007 Tour de France my focus is largely on Cadel Evans and his progress from stage to stage. This is my Cadel-centric summary of Stage 9 of the 2007 Tour de France. 

Well, I've been able to get a decent night's sleep thanks to a much needed rest day - it was nice of the TDF organisers to think of the viewers in far-flung locations. I have absorbed the shock of Mick Rogers and Stuart O'Grady crashing out and have filled my mind with positive thoughts over Cadel Evans' chances over the next couple of weeks. It's time to bring on Stage 9.

The Stage

The final day in the Alps begins at Val d'Isere and the riders are immediately confronted with a Hors Categorie climb and then a steadying downhill run before a 36km climb that includes a Category 1 climb followed by another Hors Categorie climb. Its then a 38km drop to Briançon where the stage ends - a total of 159.5km.

The Climbs - Right from the starting flag the route heads up the 15km climb to the Col de l'Iseran. They then ride to St-Michel-de-Maurienne at the 86.5km mark and the start of the climb up the Col du Telegraphe (all 13.5km of it) and then round things off with an 18km climb to the top of the Col du Galibier.

The Highlights

Yaroslav Popovych (Discovery) was first over the 1st hors categorie climb of the day Col de l'Iseran, 30" ahead of Laurent Lefevre and Juan Mauricio Soler and the rest of the peloton hard on their back wheels. They now have around 70km of downhill riding to get to the second climb.

The prelude to the main climb was the Col du Telegraphe and Mikel Astarloza (Eukatel) made the early attack and went over the top in front.

But it was always going to be the Col du Galibier where the big moves were going to be made and that's exactly what happened. But it came from an unexpected rider in Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Barloworld) who put the gas down and tore up the mountain.

From the big names the move came from Alberto Contador who took off 9km from the top with Cadel Evans the only one to cover the move. After a brief recovery from the explosive first effort, it was obvious that Evans wasn't going to be able to help in the break, so Contador simply said "arrivaderci" and tore off up the road. It was all part of a well-planned move by Discovery with Contador timing the move to perfection and caught his team mate Yaroslav Popovych right at the top of the climb 2'05" behind Soler. Evans was in 4th place another 15 seconds behind. Once again Vinokourov couldn't cover the move from the rest of the main contenders and and fell over a minute behind the group that contained the yellow jersey as well as his team mate Andreas Kloden.

Through Briançon and a group of 13 were hunting down the escapee Soler with a downhill run until the final 1.2km at which point the road kicked up to a final hill. It looked touch and go for a while there but Soler managed to hold on in a very exciting finish to win by 38 seconds from Alejandro Valverde with Cadel Evans digging deep to finish the stage in 3rd place with the same time. Contador, Mayo, Rasmussen, Leipheimer, Kirchen, Kloden and Sastre made up the top 10.

Cadel Watch

A bold effort to cover Alberto Contador's move up the Col du Galibier renews hope for his GC chances even though he didn't have the legs to go with him a second time when Contador put in his second effort. Still, the signs are positive that Evans was prepared to move clear of the rest of the main contenders.

Cadel was caught on the descent and then, inexplicably, allowed a gap of around 12 seconds to form when a group of 5 that included Valverde and Rasmussen got away. Fortunately they closed it up with around 3km to go and over the final kilometer it was Evans and Valverde who looked the strongest.

A big effort by Cadel has been rewarded with a move up the GC to 4th place.

The Contenders

1 Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
2 Alejandro Valverde (Caisse D'Epargne) 2' 35"
3 Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval) 2' 39"
4 Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) 2' 53"
5 Alberto Contador (Discovery) 3' 08"
6 Christophe Moreau (AG2R) 3' 18"
7 Carlos Sastre (CSC) 3' 39"
8 Andreas Kloden (Astana) 3'50''
9 Levi Leipheimer (Discovery) 3' 53"
15 Oscar Pereiro Sio (Caisse D’Epargne) 6' 36"
16 Haimar Zulbeldia (Eukatel) 6' 42"
18 Denis Menchov (Rabobank) 7' 10"
21 Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) 8' 05"

The Jerseys

Yellow (Leader's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank)
Green (Sprinter's) Jersey : Tom Boonen (Quickstep)
Polka Dot (Climber's) Jersey : Michael Rasmussen
White (Youth) Jersey : Alberto Contador (Discovery)

Team Leaders : Caisse D'Espargne

A wonderful day for Cadel, especially seeing as he was much more attacking today. Noted in Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen's commentary were the comments that Sastre and Leipheimer were supposedly saving themselves for the Pyrenees. With a few days of flat racing and then a time trial before the Pyrenees we should see a few escapes over the next few days with the GC contenders lying low and (hopefully) out of trouble.

Just one more thing though...how much potential does Contador have??? Talk about having future Tour de France winner written all over him. Very impressive.