Tag Archives: Chris Horner

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 8

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What is it about that little piece of yellow cloth that riders wear on Le Tour. It has almost made it into myths and legends, the way riders turn out superhuman performances to either win it or keep it for one more day. And that exactly was what Thor Hushovd did on Saturday. In a stage where no one – including yours truly and Hushovd himself – gave the Norwegian any chance of defending his slender one second lead, he went out and rode his heart out.

Stage 8 featured the first testing climbs of this year (though nothing of like what is to come) and was a nasty one for the sprinters. So it turned out, when you consider that the bunch of sprinters finished a huge twenty minutes behind the stage winner Rui Costa of Portugal. Only one big name sprinter was missing from that group, Thor Hushovd and that I think is the starkest proof of what a phenomenal effort he put in on the day.

“I really didn’t believe that I could keep this yellow jersey. I knew that the final was very hard but I’ve got incredible form right now and also the motivation to keep the lead, so I’m very happy with the result today. ” he said adding,  “Today was a really big surprise. I’m tired after this week. It takes a lot of energy out of you to always be up there and defending the jersey so I really did not believe I could manage this today.”

Another big performer was the hero of the day, Rui Costa. He was the last survivour of nine riders who had escaped the main bunch right at the start. Just goes on to show why these men go through the effort of a breakaway, most times it does not work, but when it does the rewards are there for all to see.

“We have gone through very difficult times in the team this year, so I’m happy to bring a little happiness with the win. I dedicate it to everyone who supported me, but especially to Xavier Tondo who died, and Mauricio Soler, who is currently in hospital,” he said remembering his late team-mate Xavier Tondo, who died in a freak accident at his home in late May, and another team-mate, Juan Mauricio Soler, victim of a severe crash in the Tour of Switzerland, which left him with severe head injuries and lung trauma.

The day began with a further two withdrawals, Benat Intxausti (Movistar) and Chris Horner (Radioshack), the latter pulling out despite having finished stage 7 after crashing with Bradley Wiggins a day before. Remaining 189 riders looked ahead to tackling the four categorised climbs in the day, including the first category 2 climb in this edition of the Tour.

Team Sky had on Friday declared their modified intentions of going for broke after the withdrawal of Wiggins. While not put exactly in the same words, they did make clear that the team would be involved in more breakaways and give the riders increased freedom to add-on the solo stage win they have won till date. Duly Xabier Zondo was part of the first breakaway, who was later joined by Juan-Antonio Flecha.

Another competitor seemingly with a point to prove was Alexandre Vinokourov. He recently announced that this would be his last Tour, where after he moves on to managing the Astana team he helped create and currently is a part of. He has a bit of a tainted history and has never worn yellow. On Saturday, he could not have made his intentions clearer to try to add yellow to his CV as Team Astana did all the hard work leading the peloton up the climbs.

Vino made his move close to the summit of the third climb of the day with 25km to go in the stage. Kicking in a huge gear he pulled in the pack ahead, having team-mate Paolo Tiralongo for company. As he chased the leading duo of Van Garderen and Rui Costa, he looked to gain the 32 seconds he was behind Hushovd to snatch the maillot jaune.

Sadly the Portuguese had just a little too much for the Kazakh on the given day, and Vino in order to try to catch the leader at any cost, ran himself into the red, hitting the wall with under 2km to go. As his challenge withered, so maybe did his will and in the end he crossed the line in 22nd place, with the same time as the Tour leaders.

Alberto Contador kicked a few times on the final ascent testing his main rivals Andy Schleck and Cadel Evans. Both however were intensely focussed on the Spaniard’s wheel and were not to be shaken off. As the helicopter cam caught the three riders in a single frame, it seemed as a screenshot of the podium in Paris in a couple of weeks time, though in what order time will tell.

Right before the finish Philippe Gilbert attacked and while not being able to catch the eventual winner, did finish three seconds ahead of the main pack, gaining a moral victory over the rest. Evans too surged ahead meters before line, making a last bid to finish a second ahead of Hushovd. But what had not happened in the earlier 188km was not happening in the last either, and the leader comfortably managed to finish in the pack, thus earning the same time as the Australian.

From a publicity perspective, it seems a huge return for 25min of effort Garmin-Cervelo put in the team trial that earned Hushovd the leader’s jersey. The attention they have garnered in the ensuing days is more than they could ask for, considering they would not have expected Thor to stay in yellow, and certainly not for so long. But on Sunday they will have to find the energy to steer him through the three second-category climbs through Cantal’s heart-warming greenery and scenic extinct volcanos.

The last stage before the first rest day is an absolute leg breaker with hardly any flats to talk about. There would be the usual breakaway, consisting of riders interested in the polka dot jersey, and they do have lots of points on offer with seven categorised climbs on the day. And with the main contenders shadow boxing behind, the breakaway might succeed again. Though if any major team attacks, it could throw the stage wide open and spread chaos among the peloton. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                                    General Classification:

Maillot Jaune –  Thor Hushovd                                       Thor Hushovd – 33h 06’ 28”      Maillot Vert –  Philippe Gilbert                                        Cadel Evans – 33h 06’ 29”             Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Tejay Van Garderen                Frank Schleck – 33h 06’ 32”                 Maillot Blanc –  Robert Gesink

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Tour de France 2011 – Stage 7

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It was a tale of two days for Team Sky, who having scored their maiden victory in Le Tour on Thursday, lost their leader and podium hopeful Bradely Wiggins to a crash yesterday. The stark contrast in emotions was evident in Ben Swift’s statement, “You can’t go through more different emotions. We had a little glass of champagne last night, it was a big moment, and then it’s overshadowed by today.”

The fateful crash came with 37km left to go on the stage as the peloton approached the intermediate sprint steaming along at 60km/h. It involved around 25 riders present at the center of the peloton and when the dust settled – rather the riders untangled themselves, Wiggins was the last man left lying. As he got up clutching his arm, the worst fears crept into the minds of all his team-mates who had stopped to look after the Briton.

Seriousness of his injury was then confirmed as soon as his team mounted their bikes and continued leaving behind their leader. Wiggins tried to get back on but Sky’s doctor Richard Freeman was convinced that the ambulance was what would transport him back. Rémi Pauriol (FDJ), another causality of the crash, also had to bid adieu to the 2011 Tour for good. Chris Horner (Radioshack) was catapulted badly in the melee, but remounted and raced back receiving treatment rolling alongside the medical car.

The American outfit created by Armstrong seem to be running into bad luck this year almost every day. Levi Leipheimer and Yaroslav Popovych were involved in separate crashes yet again today, and while both escaped major injuries, time lost will hurt the American’s chances in the general classification. And one never knows what the knock on effect of all these crashes would be in the mountains.

One rider to succumb to the effects of a previous crash was Quickstep’s Tom Boonen. The Belgian fell hard on stage 5 and had been suffering since, riding two days with what I think is a broken collar-bone. This probably is not the way Boonen would liked to have ended probably the last Tour of his career, though no one can accuse him of being soft. His withdrawal left 192 riders competing in the Tour – after Vasil Kiryienka (Movistar) was disqualified having finished outside the time limit on thursday.

Meanwhile back where things were not as bad, the four man breakaway of Perez Urtasun (EUS), Mickael Delage (FDJ), Gianni Meersman (FDJ) and Yannick Talabardon (SAU) continued to keep the peloton at bay till inside the last twenty kilometers. They had broken free right after the neutral zone, and were all but caught till the accident briefly interrupted the chasing pack.

The stage today otherwise had no classified climbs in the 218km route and the finish was on straight and broad roads. Perfect then for the sprinters and all but Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Cervelo) and Boasson Hagen (Sky) had manged to reach the end without being involved in the earlier crash.

HTC-Highroad yet again formed a textbook perfect train in the lead up to the finish. With Cavendish at the tail end of the formation and riders decoupling in a premeditated schedule, it seemed like a foregone conclusion for the Isle of Man rider to win the stage honours. André Greipel (OLO) accelerated viciously but seemed to have started too early and was spent right before the line to finish behind Cavendish and “Ale jet” Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre).

“I know my rivals and the speed Greipel went past, it was obvious he’d come from a few places behind me and he’d gone early. Unless he has his very best form he wasn’t going to hold it to the line so I knew he was going to die,” said an ecstatic Cavendish who earned his 17th stage victory at the place where it had all begun.

Riders held up in the Wiggins crash – including all eight surviving members of Team Sky, finished more than three minutes behind the main pack. As an upshot Geraint Thomas lost his white jersey to Robert Gesink, but that would be the least of the team’s worries. This large group included many top ten contenders and the general classification list saw some upheavals as a result.

Wiggins’ withdrawal is the biggest news of the Tour yet and the triple Olympic champion is obviously disappointed as he was looking good to better his fourth place finish of 2009. ”Everyone was jostling for the front,” he said. “We were constantly told on the radio that we’ve got to stay in the front … I couldn’t get up off the floor for love nor money, and once I did make it to the side of the road I kept saying I wanted to get back on the bike, but there comes a point where you just can’t do it.”

The survivors move ahead and today get their first taste of the mountains. While the climbs on stage 8 are not serious enough to trouble the top contenders, they should see the yellow jersey change shoulders. We are now in the Massif Central and this route will take a toll on the legs, especially that of the sprinters who have been the focus of most attention till now. It has one category 2 climb, but more importantly the finish is uphill making Philippe Gilbert yet again a favourite to win today. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                                    General Classification:

Maillot Jaune –  Thor Hushovd                                       Thor Hushovd – 28h 29’ 27”      Maillot Vert –  Jose Joaquin Rojas                                  Cadel Evans – 28h 29’ 28”            Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Johnny Hoogerland                Frank Schleck – 28h 29’ 31”                Maillot Blanc –  Robert Gesink

ps: The commissaires –  in an act seemingly to justify their existence - fined riders yesterday for “breaches of protocol.” Two participants were fined 30 Swiss Francs each for throwing bidons while others lost 100 Swiss Francs for the heinous crime of “public urination.” Well there is a rumour of a rider who has a wee into his bottle on the go to save time, so I wonder what would punitive action he would invite if caught!!!