Tag Archives: BMC

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 20

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Tears were in abundance in the eyes of Cadel Evans after his monumental performance in yesterday’s individual time trial. For the records Saturday’s dash against the clock was the penultimate stage this year, however it was the last opportunity to fight for overall supremacy. Final stage of the Tour is always a procession, time for the peloton to soak in the atmosphere and for a sprinter to shine.

Evans hit the road today aiming to turn around the 57 seconds deficit to Andy Schleck, and by the time he was done riding he had minutes in hand, comfortable to do a “Bolt moment” approaching the finish if he wished to. Ofcourse show-boating is not in the nature of the Australian who is often criticized for his introvert nature, but the emotions started flowing soon after Andy had finished his run.

Schleck Jr’s time might not have told the entire story, because he did give it his all. Maybe that audacious break on stage 18, followed by the toil a day later did have something to do with his relative lack of pace today. Such was the attack of Cadel Evans however, that mid way through it was clear that Andy was now racing for second.

He finished and collapsed in the arms of elder brother Frank, after all it cannot be easy to take in a third consecutive “second” place finish in Le Tour. In his own words, Andy had admitted of Friday “I’ve never come this close to winning the Tour.” Evans ensured it would not be a case of so near, yet so far, cause his lead is a very respectable 1min 34sec.

Despite his scorching pace, Evans was second on the day, HTC’s Tony Martin winning the stage in an incredible time of 55′ 33″ (avg speed of 45.9km/h).  Not all that surprising considering the German had won the Critérium du Dauphiné last month on this very route in an comparable time of 55′ 28″. Pre-stage favourite Fabian Cancellara’s run was spoilt by a wet route following early showers (which dried by the time later riders had a go) and he could only finish eighth on the day.

Team Sky’s Edvald Boasson Hagen seemed to be on his way to earn his third, and Norway’s fifth victory of the Tour, until loose handlebars forced him to change his bike after the third time check, wiping his hopes of a competitive time. Philippe Gilbert too hit mechanical woes in his attempt, though the Belgian was never going to match the top times.

Probably the most aggressive rider on the day – apart from Evans – was Alberto Contador. The defending champion knew before starting that his two-year reign was over, but went for broke nevertheless. Fuelled by pride, he matched Martin’s splits in all time checks and finished third on the stage leapfrogging to fifth overall, a place ahead of compatriot Samuel Sánchez.

His tenacity though could not overhaul that enigma Thomas Voeckler. The man who stayed in yellow for the longest period this year had struggled in the past two days, and yesterday was no different. But as he has done all through the Tour’s three weeks (and maybe his career), he kept suffering and pushing to save his fourth place in the standings, a result surpassing all expectations.

Compatriot and team-mate Pierre Rolland also managed to hold on to the maillot blanc with an impressive performance to ensuring there would be French presence on the podium in Paris. His gutsy ride could not earn a place in the top ten (he finished eleventh overall), but the man from Gien has marked himself as a future prospect if nurtured well. Who knows, a couple of Tours later we might see Voeckler guiding him to yellow, and what a turn around that would be.

Talking of turn arounds, Evans is only the fifth man since World War II to overturn a deficit in the final time trial. Today he will have the honour of becoming the first Australian to win the Tour de France, the most impressive addition to his already long list of firsts for a cyclist from down under. He termed his performance today as ‘the ride of his life’ and it would go a long way in silencing his critics who often point to his lack of aggression.

In his moment of triumph Evans had one name to thank above everyone, his Italian mentor, the late Aldo Sassi. “Aldo said to me last year, ‘now that you’ve won the worlds (road race) you’ve made yourself a complete rider. You can win a Grand Tour, and hopefully it will be the Tour de France. For him today, to see me now, it would be quite something.” said Evans, adding, “We went through both good and bad. I had some bad moments in the last 10 years, but this makes the good moments even better.”

As for the Schlecks, they made history too, being the first brothers to finish together on the podium. It might be scant consolation – at least for Andy – but a proud moment for the family nonetheless. He has trained in wind tunnels in San Diego, taken special stretching exercises to improve his aerodynamic efficiency, but all that has failed to improve him in a dash against the clock.

History has taught us that to be the overall winner in the Tour de France, you have to be an overall cyclist. There is no doubt Andy is a champion climber, maybe comparable only to Contador, but if only he could time trial, he would have won the Tour. The bitter truth is that he can’t – and so he hasn’t.

There is nothing much to preview for the final stage of Le Tour. It’s a flat 95km ride to Paris in which all riders will congratulate the maillot jaune, as they enjoy sipping champagne on the road. Later Evans’ team BMC will have the honour to lead the peloton to the Champs-Élysées, and action will resume for a brief six laps of a circuit around the famous landmarks of the city.

The green jersey classification is still mathematically open, though barring a disaster Cavendish should sail through. However there is the matter of the stage finish, and every sprinter worth his salt would love to win in the shadow of the iconic Arc de Triomphe. For the leaders of the Tour it won’t matter. It will be a case of waiting for the finish for one, while the other will yet again be thinking what if…. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                           General Classification:              Maillot Jaune –  Cadel Evans                                       Cadel Evans – 83h 45’ 20” Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                                Andy Schleck – 83h 46’ 54”        Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Samuel Sánchez                  Frank Schleck – 83h 47’ 50”       Maillot Blanc –  Pierre Rolland

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Tour de France 2011 – Stage 4

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172.5km of effort, 6 inches of glory! That best describes yesterday’s stage 4 of Le Tour. Where else does one find such microscopic distances distinguishing competitors in a marathon event. For the record, Cadel Evans edged out a highly spirited Alberto Contador in the most dramatic fashion at the end of day four yesterday. It was so close in fact that the Spaniard raised his arm in triumph, confident of having nipped his old adversary by his late charge.

The photo-finish replays proved otherwise and it is just another sign how things are not going as per plan for the defending champion. But Contador and his manager seem pleased with his overall performance, and considering he got one better over most of the main contenders, this could be seen as a sign that the Saxo Bank leader is not taking things lying down.

Evans was ecstatic after the victory – his first since 2007 – and thanked his team for the achievement. He said, “My hero today is Marcus Burghardt who made sure I was exactly where I was meant to be. I can’t believe I beat Philippe Gilbert going into a headwind like that.” This victory was more remarkable considering the BMC rider had to drop off to the rear for fixing his gears a mere 15km from the finish. The only minor irritant for Evans may have been his failure to snatch maillot jaune from Thor Hushovd, who finished a commendable sixth.

The Norwegian was expected to struggle on this stage, especially in the tricky uphill finish. But it was to his credit that despite all odds he pulled himself, successfully defending his slender margin of ‘one second’ over Evans. Based on this performance and with the profiles of the upcoming stages, he should pretty much see through till Saturday in yellow.

Race organisers had specially designed this stage to finish on “The Wall” with its mile long dead straight ascent to throw the peloton out of its comfort zone. Higher powers were in no mood of mercy either with much of the stage being run in miserable conditions. Sleeting rain rendered roads so greasy that the first crash came in the neutral zone itself, even before the stage was flagged off by the race director.

Yet again a breakaway was formed within the first 10km, this time being lead by the Frenchman Jeremy Roy (FDJ) with Gorka Izagirre Insausti (Euskatel), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Blel Kadri (AG2R) for company. They continued on their own till the day’s intermediate sprint with a max gain of around four minutes over the main group. But soon Garmin-Cervelo and Omega Pharma-Lotto whipped the peloton into action and despite the sternest fight from the leaders, they were caught well before the tricky ascent.

Action of the day belonged to Vacansoleil-DCM sprinter Romain Feillu who after a forced halt, rode inches behind the team car trying to rejoin the peloton. With the vehicle zipping along at 75km/hr, an incontent Feillu gave the rider a thumbs-up urging him to go faster! Even considering the driver was not quite as adventurous as the cyclist on slippery tarmac, hats off to the physical ability of the French rider.

Yesterday also brought the first retirement in this year’s Tour with Omega Pharma-Lotto’s Jurgen van de Walle abandoning the race, probably as an after effect of his crash early on day one. Makes the job of the remaining 197 competitors so much easier then!

Towards the end the peloton had stretched out like a freight train, though speeds were in check considering the surface conditions. Also the ‘three-kilometers rule’ was not applicable on this stage, meaning a crash at any distance would entail a damaging delay for the rider(s) involved.

Hence all top contenders were right at the fore of the pack with most spectators eyeing birthday boy Philippe Gilbert gunning for his second victory of the Tour. Sadly that was not to be as Evans and Contador out paced everyone in the final dash, with Vinokourov taking up the last podium place. Massive crowds at Mûr-de-Bretagne made this appear as a major mountain finish, and with the two big guns going elbow to elbow, this could be a tasty appetizer before the main course of the Alpine stages.

At the end of the day there were no major fluctuations in the general classifications. However the keen-eyed would have noticed the almost surreptitious climb of one of the Schlecks into the top three. Just a sign of matters heating up and riders beginning to get into their strides.

Today’s stage 5 continues east across Brittany, beginning in captivating countryside and with the latter half a scenic ride down the coast. However the peloton would not have the time to marvel on the beauty and would be more focussed on the cross-winds which will prompt echelons to form. Opportunities exist then, for a team with adequate horsepower to try to split the field. Traditionally it should be won by a sprinter, but after yesterday’s results I will refrain from making a prediction (though it may be noted that I had highlighted Evans for glory in my short preview of stage 4). So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                                    General Classification:

Maillot Jaune –  Thor Hushovd                                        Thor Hushovd – 13h 58’ 25”
Maillot Vert –  Joaquin Jose Rojas                                  Cadel Evans – 13h 58’ 26”
Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Cadel Evans                              Frank Schleck – 13h 58’ 29”
Maillot Blanc –  Geraint Thomas

ps: Thor Hushod apologised to Mark Cavendish over the disqualification of both riders from yesterday’s intermediate sprint. Referees penalised the riders for allegedly clashing helmets going for the line, however Hushovd claimed all responsibility for the mishap. In reply Cav tweeted “Just heard that Thor’s offered to take the punishment solely. What a true gentleman. I reckon it won’t change fuck-all though. But thank you.”