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Headline RSS FeedVoeckler wins in first break of Tour de France; Armstrong still second
July 8, 2009 —
Thomas Voeckler looked over his shoulder and couldn’t believe he was about to win a stage at the Tour de France.
The 30-year-old timed it just right to hold off the fast-chasing peloton and the Frenchman from the Bbox-Bouygues Telecom team had just enough time -- seven seconds to be exact -- to celebrate a hard-earned stage win that was seven years in the making.
“I turned around to make sure I was going to win and I had a moment to enjoy the victory,” Voeckler said. “I’ve been waiting a long time for this win.”
Voeckler was part of a five-man breakaway that held clear in the 196.5km fifth stage from Cap-d’Agde to Perpignan, the first winning break so far in the 2009 Tour.
The main pack roared in just a 100 yards behind Voeckler, with Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) protecting his minuscule lead of 0.22 seconds on Lance Armstrong (Astana) to retain the race leader’s yellow jersey.
“I didn’t think the breakaway would make it, so I wasn’t really thinking too much about tactics like I usually do when I am in an escape,” Voeckler said. “When I heard we had 1:20 with 10km to go, I knew it would stick. I looked around and I realized that my only chance would be to arrive alone.”
Voeckler is one of those head-bangers who try to upset the apple cart and venture off on daring attacks that are great for the headlines but rarely succeed. In a race as important as the Tour, a breakaway might succeed four or five times in the course of three weeks of racing.
But the sprinter teams botched the chase. Strong crosswinds buffeted the peloton as it pushed south toward Spain, where the Tour enters Thursday for the sixth stage to Barcelona.
At one point, the pack broke into four smaller groups as Cancellara and his Saxo Bank team tried to separate the wheat from the chafe. The main pack eventually regrouped, but it was too late to reel in the attacking Voeckler.
The stage victory is a first for Voeckler, who made a name for himself in the 2004 Tour de France when he snagged the yellow jersey in a similar move in the first week.
Then a largely unknown rider, Voeckler surprised many to defend the yellow jersey all the way into the Pyrénées, earning kudos from eventual winner Armstrong, who hailed his courage and said he was a rider to watch.
But by his own admission, Voeckler never had the engine to stay with the leanest mountain goats or motor with the time trial specialists to ever hope to win a three-week grand tour.
Instead, he earned his paycheck sneaking away in breakaways, earning TV for his title sponsors and winning the occasional stage.
In fact, Wednesday’s big win was his first stage victory in the Tour in seven starts.
“I was a little bit younger when I wore the yellow jersey,” he said. “Now I know the value of what it means to be successful in the Tour. I know I can never win the Tour, but it was my dream to win a stage.”
French fans cheered deliriously when Voeckler crossed the line for France’s first stage win of the 2009 Tour. As they say in France, chapeau!
Former Vail Daily editor Andrew Hood now lives in Spain and covers cycling. His reports on the 96th Tour de France will appear daily on RealVail.com. Also follow him on twitter at twitter.com/eurohoody.
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Armstrong just misses yellow jersey in stage 4 of Tour de France
July 7, 2009 —
Lance Armstrong came within a whisper of recapturing the yellow jersey that he walked away from in retirement in 2005 in a thrilling showdown Tuesday at the Tour de France.
With his Astana team winning the prestigious team time trial in the Tour’s fourth stage in dominant fashion on a hilly 39km course in Montpellier, it looked like the seven-time Tour champ would storm back into the maillot jaune as well.
Astana clearly won the stage, 19 seconds clear of second-place Garmin-Slipstream, but by the time the dust settled and the time-keepers double-checked their math, Armstrong missed taking cycling’s most treasured tunic by the narrowest of margins.
Some 0.22 seconds, to be exact, and overnight leader Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) kept the lead based on a tie-breaker measured by fractions of seconds taken at the Monaco time trial.
“That’s just the way it is,” Armstrong waxed philosophical. “We did everything we could as a team and we won the race, so I cannot be disappointed about that.”
The fact that Armstrong is even back at the Tour, let alone within a shot of the yellow jersey, is hard to believe.
Armstrong walked away from the Tour in 2005 after winning a record seven-consecutive crowns and, as he said, “didn’t pay much attention” to cycling until deciding to come back for 2009.
When asked if he thought he’d be here, Armstrong was candid.
“Twelve months ago, yes, I thought it be easier. Six month ago I realized – damn – this is going to be harder than I thought,” Armstrong said. “Today I’m realistic. I have both feet on the ground. It’s not going to be so easy to win like it was back in 2002, 2003 or before.”
Although he didn’t take yellow, Armstrong has positioned himself perfectly as the Tour approaches the Tour’s first of three mountaintop finishes up Arcalis on Friday.
Tied with Cancellara, he’s 19 seconds ahead of teammate Alberto Contador and two other Astana riders. The first legitimate rival that isn’t a teammate or a worker is American Christian Vande Velde, now 12th at 1:16 back.
Pre-race favorites Carlos Sastre, Cadel Evans and Denis Menchov are all nearly three minutes off the back.
Wednesday’s fifth stage rolls down the Med coast into Perpignan, where the sprinters are expected to rule the roost.
Armstrong and Co. will likely cool their jets until Friday’s summit finish, but the way this Tour is going, expect the unexpected.
Former Vail Daily editor Andrew Hood now lives in Spain and covers cycling. His reports on the 96th Tour de France will appear daily on RealVail.com. Also follow him on twitter at twitter.com/eurohoody.
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Armstrong ups heat in Tour de France
July 7, 2009 —
There’s never a dull day at the Tour de France and that was certainly the case Monday as seven-time champ Lance Armstrong put everyone on notice that he’s here to win.
The 37-year-old snuck into a winning 28-rider breakaway late in Monday’s 196.5km third stage and climbed into third place overall at 40 seconds back going into Tuesday’s decisive team time trial.
More importantly, Armstrong gapped Astana teammate Alberto Contador, who was out of position when the entire Columbia-HTC team punched the accelerator into heavy crosswinds with about 30km to go.
The tactic caught almost all the major GC contenders asleep at the wheel – except Armstrong.
“I’ve won seven Tours and I know when there are crosswinds and there’s a change in direction of the course, you’ve got to be at the front. That’s where I was,” Armstrong said. “The intention was never to drop Contador.”
Brit Mark Cavendish won his second straight stage to tighten his grip on his green points jersey and overnight leader Fabian Cancellara was the only rider from his favored Saxo Bank team to make the break, but managed to hold onto the yellow jersey.
The Armstrong group came across the line 41 seconds of the desperate chasers.
Missing the move along with Contador were nearly every other GC favorite, including defending champion Carlos Sastre, two-time runner-up Cadel Evans and American Christian Vande Velde.
The result also pushes Armstrong ahead of Contador, who slipped from second to fourth, now 59 seconds back. It’s a critical distinction as the pair heat up their battle for control of the powerful Astana team.
All sides have agreed they will ride for the strongest rider in the race. Armstrong proved Monday that at least he’s the smartest.
Former Vail Daily editor Andrew Hood now lives in Spain and covers cycling. His reports on the 96th Tour de France will appear daily on RealVail.com. Also follow him on twitter at twitter.com/eurohoody.
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By Andrew Hood
Switzerland's Cancellara right on time to start Tour de France
July 4, 2009 —
Fabian Cancellara was born to win time trials. He’s big, powerful and, as a Swiss from Berne, knows a thing or two about being on time.
The reigning Olympic time trial champion proved why he’s considered one of the all-time greats against the clock, winning Saturday’s 15.5km opening stage of the 2009 Tour de France and taking the race leader’s yellow jersey for a third time in his career.
Cancellara erased a six-second deficit to 2007 Tour winner Alberto Contador at the top of the Cat. 4 Cote de Beausoleil midway through the course and turned it into an 18-second winning ride in Monaco.
“I am very proud, because I was one of the top favorites here before the race and I knew if things went well, it would be very difficult to beat me,” said Cancellara, who was the only rider to finish under 20 minutes on the challenging course. “I put in the maximum effort.”
The Big Swiss Time Machine – fresh off overall victory at the Tour de Suisse – stopped the clock in 19 minutes, 32 seconds (47.61kph) to claim the maillot jaune for the third time in his career. Contador was second at 18 seconds slower and Bradley Wiggins was third at 19 seconds off the pace.
Cancellara proved yet again he’s one of the world’s most lethal time trial specialists, adding Monaco to his Tour victories that delivered yellow in Liège in 2004 and London in 2007.
“I knew I could take it easier on the climb and avoid too much lactic acid in my legs. Then I could go really hard in the flats. That paid off,” Cancellara said. “It’s great to be back in the yellow jersey once again. Now everyone knows that Cancellara is back and he is stronger than ever. We will now defend the yellow jersey until the team time trial.”
Defending Tour champion Carlos Sastre (Cervélo) -- who makes his winning attacks on the steep climbs in the Alps – finished 21st at 1:06 back, not bad for the skinny Spanish climber who had problems with his helmet.
“The sensations on the bike were good, but just as soon as I started, a piece fell off my helmet, and this disrupted my concentration a little bit. Right away, I couldn’t maintain the position that I wanted,” Sastre said. “I believe it was about 40 or so seconds to Contador (48 seconds) and the other more potent riders like Cancellara took a little more. I am content with the result, above all, just starting the Tour, which is what I really wanted to do.”
Seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong rode to a solid 10th at 40 seconds off the pace in his first appearance since retiring in 2005. The 38-year-old Texan expressed satisfaction as his powerful Astana team put four riders into the top 10.
“I felt pretty good. I was a little bit all over over the place because the course wasn’t consistent. For me I didn’t have any big illusions. I didn’t expect t to win or to take the jersey. I didn’t expect a super, super performance,” Armstrong said. “I was nervous, which is logical with those years away. I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable. It’s been a long time since I had that emotion of being on the ramp in the Tour.”
The 96th Tour de France continues Sunday with the 187km second stage from Monaco to Brignoles. The hilly stage features four rated climbs, including the Cat. 3 La Turbie in the opening 10km, providing ideal terrain for breakaway attempts.
The day’s final climb with 58km to go should provide the sprinter teams with plenty of road to set up their fast-twitch sprinters, with Quick Step looking to set up Belgian national champion Tom Boonen for the victory.
Former Vail Daily editor Andrew Hood now covers cycling and lives in Spain. His reports on the 96th Tour de France will appear daily on RealVail.com.
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