Tag Archives: Sandy Casar

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 15

Posted on by
3

Cometh the sprint, cometh the Cav. I know this sounds cheeky, but what can I say after the Manxman sprinted to his 19th career victory, making it his fourth successive tour where he has won four or more stages. It almost looks all too easy, though Cav has his HTC Express to thank for that.

That steamroller consisting of Berhard Eisel, Tony Martin and Mark Renshaw hardly ever fails to deliver. Working like a well oiled machine at the head of the peloton, they provide the perfect platform for their sprinter to take off from, whenever the stage calls for it.

The fact is not lost out on Cavendish as he said yesterday, ”I crossed the finish line first, and I’ve done that 19 times now, but that’s because there’s only one person who can cross the finish line first. I did 200 metres today in a 200‑kilometre stage. Two of my team‑mates rode for 190 of those kilometres and the rest took over and delivered me to the line. So although it’s my name on the list, it’s for the team.”

Such is his domination that excellent competitors like Farrar, Petacchi and Greipel have to satisfy themselves with the lower podium places, or if luck may have it, a stage win where the Brit may have faltered for some reason. But on Saturday’s stage 14 Cavendish came within a minute of the cut-off for finishing the stage and escaped disqualification just in the nick of time.

Behind him though nothing else changed on Le Tour. Thomas Voeckler continues to stay in yellow, leading from Frank Schleck and Cadel Evans and none of the other jerseys changed shoulders either. The stage itself did not permit for any such shifts as there was a sole category-four climb, not the kind then where any leaders could attack or lose time.

It was a sort of mini rest day for the riders who ambled across the 192.5kms keeping safe from damaging crosswinds and general fatigue. The relative comfort of yesterday is also clear from the fact that it was the first stage since day 3 when there were no withdrawals/disqualifications in the Tour. The peloton finished the day same 170 men strong that had started it (FDJ rider William Bonnet had missed the cut-off time on Saturday).

For the record within 3km of the start a breakaway of five had formed consisting of Niki Terpstra (Quick Step), Mickael Delage (FDJ), Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Mikhail Ignatyev (Katusha) and Anthony Delaplace (Saur-Sojasun). Niki Terpstra from Quick Step was the most resilient of all, holding on to a solo lead till the last 2km. But the victory he hoped for was never happening on a stage like this where the sprint teams will sweep past any breakaway in a swoosh.

Still the Dutchman’s efforts were not completely in vain, as he won the award for most aggressive rider of the day, pocketing a cool € 2,000. It might sound scant reward for four hours of rigorous work, but the red bib he gets to wear on the next stage is a respect in itself (and then are the related benefits for the team and their sponsors) .

In the lack of any major action/controversies, the French media have been speculating the possibilities of Voeckler to continue his show of defiance and carry the maillot jaune till Paris. One can understand their eagerness as not since the legendary Bernard Hinault won his fifth title in 1985, have the French had the opportunity to boast of a home winner of the Tour.

But Voeckler is being cautious of his chances. He replied to these views with a smile yesterday, “I have a scoop for you, I’m not able to win the Tour de France.” And when reminded of his heroics in the Pyrenees, he laughed, “Yes but there are higher mountains yet to come…”

Tomorrow begins the final and most crucial week. As we head into the Alps facing famous climbs such as the Galibier (twice) and Alpe d’Huez, much can happen. Even without these tall hurdles, there is the nerves of the Individual Time Trial, the chances of further crashes and lastly – but hopefully not – panic induced ‘chaingate’ episode like last year.

Stage 16 is a mild teaser of what is to come in the week. Its short at 163.5km and has a single category-four climb in the last 50km, but crucially it keeps climbing all the way from the start. Not a leg breaker, but with the tension of the last week, it will once again offer opportunity for a breakaway to succeed. The top men will not compete on these slopes, their talent calls for the mythical Cols, but a strong rider, probably from a team which has yet to prove its mettle might go for the win.

Even though there is no reshuffle on the cards, the stage should still be engrossing as the second rest day always plays tricks with a few riders. Personally I have an inkling (and am also praying) that finally one of the French riders will claim this stage. Many have tried – Roy, Casar and Voeckler himself – but failed. If Roy can go ahead and finish it this time, it will be justice done in a way, awarding an extremely spirited rider and the country that gives us this marvellous spectacle. So till tomorrow then…

 Jersey holders:                                                      General Classification:               Maillot Jaune –  Thomas Voeckler                                     Thomas Voeckler – 65h 24’ 34”      Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                          Frank Schleck – 65h 26’ 23”      Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Jelle Vanendert                          Cadel Evans – 65h 26’ 40”              Maillot Blanc –  Rigoberto Uran

About these ads

Tour de France 2011 – Stage 14

Posted on by
Reply

“Prepared to wound, but afraid to strike” – perfect metaphor for the mind games played by the top GC contenders on the climb of Plateau de Beille. Well in fairness, Andy Schleck did try four times to break free of the clique, however none of his attempts carried the venom to drop anyone. And when young Jelle Vanendert burst ahead with just under 7km to go, and comfortably claim his maiden stage, it was evident the best were not trying their best.

“On the last climb I saw that Andy was watching Contador a little bit and Contador was watching Frank. I thought that Contador could just answer the attacks of the Schlecks; Evans and Basso are also there for the general classification and it was only me who was not going for the classification so I thought that I could go and try to get an advantage,” said the Belgian later.

Until Saturday, all four past winners here had went on to claim the Tour in Paris. Vanendert surely does not have the capability to maintain that tradition (not since Laurent Fignon in 1983 has anyone won the Tour on his début), but no one can blame him for taking advantage of the mind-games and earn himself a stage victory he had narrowly missed on the summit of Luz-Ardiden. Incidentally he beat Sammy Sanchez to the line, reversing the result of two days ago.

Much was expected of this stage with the clichés like ‘separating the wheat from the chaff’ being used galore. It did begin to shape out well with Leopard Trek yet again trying to break most teams with their vicious pace at the head of the peloton. Their exertions had the desired effect and by the time the last rider of the Luxembourg team had sacrificed himself, the leading pack was down to just twelve men – the Schlecks, Voeckler, Contador, Evans, Jelle Vanendert, Ivan Basso, Jean-Christophe Peraud, Rigoerto Uran, Damiano Cunego and Pierre Rolland.

Soon Andy attacked, and again, and again, and again, but every time to his frustration either Voeckler or Contador jumped up to his wheel almost immediately. By the end both Schleck brothers were quite unhappy with Cadel Evans for his lack of effort in trying to break the defending champion and the maillot jaune, and themselves made no efforts to cover either Vanendert or Sanchez when they broke free.

Andy did vent his frustration right before the end as he sprinted ahead to finish seconds ahead of everyone, gaining more a moral victory than any significant time advantage. As he pumped ahead in the last kilometer, it seemed too little, too late – a scant gain of two seconds should not matter in the final time sheet in Paris, but it can’t hurt his chances and we all know stranger things have happened on the Tour (LeMond pipping Fignon by a mere eight seconds in 1989 comes to mind).

Evans later justified the lack of attacks by him, “It’s under control. Everyone says that no one attacks and so on… but they also need to consider the wind and the closeness of the racing. The Schleck brothers were there and they’ve got the yellow jersey to gain and then they look at me to pull for them. I joke with them, ‘I’m not here to tow you to Paris.’”

But one has to doff his hat to Thomas Voeckler, who fought like a man possessed to keep in touch with the scorching pace being set by these top riders. He was to be the night-watchman (to borrow the phrase from cricket) of the yellow jersey, but not for a moment looked in trouble yesterday (and stands not-out at stumps). Infact to be fair it was mostly him that replied to Schleck Jr’s attacks and rode close to the head of the élite pack all the time.

“I would lie if I said that I expected to keep the jersey but I was more optimistic than I was two days before the Luz Ardiden stage. On the last climb today, I was really surprise [sic] that I was with all the favorites at the end and it was very hard for me but I understand that it was the same for them. I tried to give my all and it was okay,” said the Frenchman who is winning more friends in his home nation than ever before.

There was a bit of humour on the stage as Jens voigt – then part of the chasing pack – failed to take a corner and bounced off the ledge into shrubs. It was a soft fall and the rider was able to continue almost immediately, only to lose his rear wheel almost moments later. Worse than the earlier tumble (though nothing serious) the German seemed completely disgusted, though had no one to blame for it.

He had to forget the chase and fell back to his team for guiding the Schlecks up the final climb of the day. Up in the front was a lone Frenchman again, Sandy Casar, and with the passive infighting between the GC men, it seemed for a brief moment that he might provide the home crowd their first victory in this year’s tour (something team-mate Jeremy Roy so painfully missed out on yesterday).

Sadly history repeated itself and all his bravery came to no avail once Vanendert sprung late on the stage to claim final honours. Another young rider, Colombian Rigoberto Uran of team Sky managed to finish with the Evans group and took over the lead in the white jersey classification, bringing some joy to the British team who have only had bad news in the past week, both on and off the road.

The biggest winner on the day has to be Thomas Voeckler, who – like in 2004 – against all odds has managed to frustrate and surprise everyone by hanging on to yellow. He will stay in the overall lead till atleast stage 17 when the Tour hits the Alps for good. But if he can keep his form and the GC battle continues to be as passive as it is (hope not), he might be within fighting distance even in the individual time trial (not his specialty, but then neither was climbing).

Today’s stage 15 has a completely different profile where his – and the peloton’s – main rival will be the searing heat and crosswinds. Its pretty flat except for a solo catergory-four climb and more of a transition stage as the Tour heads on to the Alps from the Pyrenees. GC contenders will once again ride in the shadow of their teams, only aiming to reach the finish and look forward to a rest day on Monday. This is also the penultimate opportunity for the sprinters to earn some glory, so be prepared for another Cavendish-Greipel-Farrar photo finish. So till tomorrow then…

Jersey holders:                                                      General Classification:            Maillot Jaune –  Thomas Voeckler                                     Thomas Voeckler – 61h 04’ 10”   Maillot Vert –  Mark Cavendish                                          Frank Schleck – 61h 05’ 59”     Maillot à Pois Rouges –  Jelle Vanendert                          Cadel Evans – 61h 06’ 16”             Maillot Blanc –  Rigoberto Uran

ps: No it’s not a pic out of LOTR or any horror flick, it’s Laurens Ten Dam who hit an obstacle and flew over his hand-bars yesterday. No major damage was reported, but this is how he looked as he continued to finish comfortably!!!