January 16th, 2010 by admin

The Tour Down Under, held in Adelaide, Australia, is set to get underway this Sunday, January 17th, with a strong field of riders that include seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and his new Radio Shack Team.

The race will begin with a criterium race through Adelaide on Sunday with riders battling it out for the coveted Ochre Jersey. Then on Tuesday, Stage 1 will begin, as the cyclists head out on the road to begin the race proper. Over the course of the six stages, they’ll cover nearly 500 miles, in what has become a competitive and challenging start to the cycling season.

For Armstrong’s part, he has been looking forward to his return to Adelaide since he put in his first appearance there last year when he began his comeback. He ended up finishing a surprisingly strong fifth in the General Classification, and he hopes to improve on that this year. Lance claims that he is further along at this point than he was last season, and that he is riding stronger and with more confidence. That’s probably bad news for the other riders, although you have to wonder how much longer the 38-year old cyclist can continue to compete at such a high level.

Watch for updates next week, as the race gets rolling along. It should be a good way to gauge Lance’s strength, and how the new Radio Shack team is working together. They say that they are not going out to win the team competition, but instead, grab stage victories. Should be fun!

August 13th, 2009 by admin

While one group of tough athletes will be beginning their race on Friday in the Badlands, an entirely different kind of race will be taking place on Saturday in Leadville, Colorado, home of the Leadville Trail 100, one of the toughest mountain bike races around.

The race is 50 miles, out and back, with a seven mile climb to the turn around point, which just so happens to fall at 12,600 feet. 90% of the trail is on dirt, and the race actually begins at 10,200 feet, so altitude obviously plays an issue. In contrast, the highest point in the 2009 Tour de France was a mere 8113 feet. All told, the riders face more than 14,000 feet of elevation gain across the entire length of the ride, which has a 12 hour cut-off.

You may recall that the Leadville got quite a bit of attention last year because Lance Armstrong decided to race in it. He ended up taking second place, getting dropped by six time champ Dave Wiens in the final miles. Shortly there after, Lance announced his return to competitive cycling, and we all know what has happened since then. He’s gone on to ride in a number of big events across the globe, and took third in the Tour de France just last month. I think it is safe to say, that Lance will be in much better condition for his showdown with Dave this year, and you know that it has been a thorn in his side since he lost to Wiens last year.

In preparation for this epic rematch, the Leadville crew has set up a live video feed that you can pay $5.95 to watch. The race gets underway at 5:45 AM Mountain Time on Saturday, so get up early and spend your morning in front of the computer, watching Lance and Dave go at each other once again. I’ll be focused on that other race that day, but I won’t be able to help myself from checking in from time to time. Should be fun!

July 30th, 2009 by admin

I had hoped to put some thoughts together on the Tour de France now that the riders have rolled into Paris and the event has wrapped up for another year, but I’ve had Internet access issues over the past few days that have not helped my cause.

By now, everyone knows that Alberto Contador took the Yelow Jersey and finished first on the Champs-Elysees on Sunday. The Spaniard was 4′11″ in front of second place rider Andy Schleck, and another 1′13″ ahead of Lance Armstrong, who took third place on the podium. Schleck claimed the White Jersey for the best young rider in the Tour for the second year in a row, while Thor Hushovd when home in Green as the top sprinter. Franco Pellizotti was named the King of the Mountains, and took the Polka Dot Jersey going away.

One of the things that struck me while I watched the final stage on Sunday was that the future certainly looks very bright for the sport of cycling and the Tour de France in particular. Contador is a powerful, young rider, and it seems he has a rival in Andy Schleck that will be challenging him in the years ahead, provided Schleck can improve his time trialing. That should be rivalry to watch in the years ahead, as it seems that those two men could be going head to head for years to come.

The other interesting rivalry to come out of this years Tour is the one between Hushovd and British rider Mark Cavendish. Cavendish is clearly the fastest sprinter in the world, but he learned that that wasn’t enough to take the Green Jersey this year. The two men took shots at each other in the press, although they appeared to bury the hatchet some in the final days, but you can bet that they’ll be challenging each other on the sprints in the years ahead as well. Cavendish took the final stage win in Paris on Sunday, and made it look easy, blasting through the finish line for his sixth win of the year. A very impressive feat.

And of course, looming over all of this is the shadow of Lance Armstrong, who returns to the sport a living legend. Lance will be riding on a new team next year, sponsored by Radio Shack, and he’ll hand pick his teammates and attempt to go after another win, this time with Contador as a direct competitor and not a teammate at all. The fact that Lance was able to finish 3rd this year is pretty remarkable considering his age and three years away. It truly conveys what a special athlete he is and what a great rider too, as his road savvy was on display more than once in this year’s race.

It is not surprising that Lance and Contador have already begun sparring with one another in the press. The relationship was a contentious one from the start, and it seemed to only get more frosty as the Tour went on. In interviews, Lance tried to bite his tongue and not say too much, but his tone and other comments spoke volumes at times. I think Contador is the stronger rider at this point of their careers, but I can already tell that Lance would love to be able to best the younger man on the road next year.

And now, I’ll have to deal with my Tour Withdrawal symptoms for another year as well. Over the past few weeks it is virtually the only thing I watched on television and it is an event that I always look forward to. One of these days I’m going to have to make the trip and see it in person, but for now I’ll have to be content with the outstanding television coverage from Versus. I miss it all already.

July 26th, 2009 by admin

Today’s Stage 19 of the Tour de France was expected to be a bit of a let down following the fireworks in the Alps earlier this week and the individual time trial yesterday. But if this year’s Tour has taught us anything, we should expect the unexpected.

The 178 km (110 miles) course ran from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas, and featured rolling hills with some solid climbs, but nothing like the big slopes we saw a few days back. It was the chance for the sprinters to take center stage once again, as there were a couple of points on the course where they could earn Green Jersey points.

Heading into the day, Thor Hushovd had a firm grip on the Green Jersey, but his rivalry with Mark Cavendish, the fastest sprinter in the world, had been making headlines throughout the week following a controversial decision by judges to dock points from Cavendish, following a filed complaint by Hushovd. The loss of points caused Cav to fall back in the standings, and take shots at Thor in the press, while Thor responded by putting on a show two days ago, making a solo ride through the mountains to earn more points and widen the lead. It appeared as if the “God of Thunder” was ready to ride into Paris in Green. Clearly Cavendish has other ideas however.

Throughout the entire Tour, Team Columbia has worked together flawlessly to set up their man Cavendish to be in a position to take a stage win. Their strategies have worked so well, that before today, Cav had already earned four stage wins, and their efforts paid off once again today, as he took his fifth, giving him nine stage victories in his young career, the most ever by a British rider. Today, the team set up their attack with roughly 2km to go, running down a breakaway, and allowing Cavendish to sprint to the line just ahead of Husovd to earn the maximum number of points, and setting up an epic showdown on the Champs Elysees on Sunday to determine which one of these two stars will take the sprint championship this year.

As for the rest of the stage, it was a mostly by-the-numbers affair. The leaders of the General Classification stuck close to one another all day, and no one really attempted to make any kind of attack. There was a slight break late in the stage that allowed Lance Armstrong, currently sitting in third place, to pick up four seconds on the riders chasing him, but Alberto Contador maintained his 4 minute 11 second lead over Andy Schleck, who sits in second, a minute and ten seconds in front of Armstrong.

Right now, it appears that the only podium position that is up for grabs is third place. Lets face it, despite the fact that tomorrow’s stage ends on a grueling Beyond Category climb up Mont Ventoux, no one is going to crack Contador, and it seems very unlikely that Lance can do anything to catch Andy Schleck either. But, lurking just behind lance is Brad Wiggins, 14 seconds back, then comes Armstrong his teammate Andreas Kloden, another two behind, and Frank Schleck isn’t out of striking distance either, just 38 seconds behind, and with impressive climbing skills. All of this adds up to some interesting opportunities for tomorrows big stage, which is really the finale in terms of the GC.

As for the other jersey competitions, Franco Pellizotti still has a lock on the Polka Dot Jersey, and it’s unlikely he’ll let anyone earn too many points tomorrow, so he looks like this year’s King of the Mountains, and Andy Schleck seems to be in the driver’s seat as far as the White Jersey as the Tour’s best young rider.

Tomorrow promises to be yet another interesting stage. It is a 167 km (103 miles) ride from Montélimar to the summit of Mont Ventoux. The Peloton will warm up with a few rolling hills, with a couple of Category 3 and 4 climbs before setting up the big duel on the final climb of the day, a mount top finish up a 21.5 km (13.3 miles) Beyond Category climb. I expect the Schlecks to work in tandem once again, but not to challenge Contador so much as Armstrong. If the two brothers can stand on the podium together in Paris, they’ll have accomplished their goal.

July 24th, 2009 by admin

Stage 17 of the 2009 Tour de France hit the French Alps with full force today, with a punishing stage that left the dreams of a few more contenders in tatters, while giving rise to the hopes of others.

The riders faced a tough 169.5 km (105 miles) stage that ran from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand and featured four Category 1 climbs with a Category 2 thrown in for good measure. That meant a long day in the saddle for most, with the majority of the Peloton giving away time to the top riders who have been waiting for the mountain stages to make their attacks.

Yesterday we saw a few attackers testing the water, only to be reeled back in by Team Astana, who have worked well together to ensure that race leader Alberto Contador hangs on to his Yellow Jersey. Today the attacks were expected to come from Saxo Bank, whose young rider Andy Scleck was amongst the pre-race contenders this year, but had been lurking back in the standings of the General Classification. With just two mountain stages to go, Schleck, who is a consummate climber, needed to make a move soon. That move came today.

But the early portions of the stage belonged to Thor Hushovd, who holds the Green Jersey as the top sprinter. Outspoken rival Mark Cavendish took shots at big Thor in the press by saying that Hushovd didn’t win the Jersey on the course, in reference to a controversial complaint filed against Cavendish that ended up costing him points in the competition and effectively ended his bid to ride into Paris in Green. Hushovd responded today with a solo attack that put him over the early mountains and collecting the sprint points for himself. It was the Norwegian rider’s way of telling Cav to shut the hell up, as Cavendish is not a climber and wouldn’t have been able to hang with Thor on those rides. In fact, Thor was so impressive today that he rode down the King of the Mountains Polka Dot Jersey, on the back of Franco Pellizotti, as well, finishing more than a minute ahead of him on the Col des Saisies.

The real action got underway later on the Col de Romme, with 37km (22 miles) left to race. Carlos Sastre, last year’s Tour winner, went out on an attack, and had to be reeled in by Contador, who was flanked by Andreas Kloden and Lance Armstrong. Sastre attempted to make another move, but was once again brought back into the fold, and while all of this was going on, Saxo Bank set up their two riders, Andy and his brother Frank Schleck, to make their move.

Andy was off like a shot, with Contador shadowing him all the way, while Frank, Brad Wiggins, Rigoberto Uran, and Armstrong gave pursuit further back. Christian Vande Velde, once considered an outside shot for the Tour win, faded away quickly, but teammate Dave Zabriskie helped him rejoin the group eventually. Frank picked up the pace, and the rest of the group were soon with Andy and Contador out in front and from there on, the Schlecks would drive the pace.

On the final climb of the day there were four riders out in front, the Schlecks, Contador and Kloden, with several riders, including Armstrong, in the first chase. With 2km to go to the finish, Contador put in an attack, which succeeded in dropping his own teammate in Kloden, but not the Schleck brothers, who hung with him every step of the way. The three raced to the finish line, with Frank getting the well earned stage win for his efforts in helping his brother move up in the GC standings. Not far behind, a group that included Armstrong, Kloden, and WIggens clawed there way to the finish.

The attacks today did scramble the top of the GC. While Contador still holds on to the Yellow Jersey, Andy Schleck is now in second, 2 minutes and 26 seconds back, and Frank is in third, nearly another minute behind. Armstrong dropped into fourth place overall, three minutes and fifty-five seconds behind. Andy also put a tighter grip on the White Jersey as the best young rider, and obviously Hushovd has the Green Jersey all but locked up. Pellizotti still looks good in the Polka Dots.

Tomorrow brings the final individual time trial which is a 40.5 km (25 miles) run through the streets of Annecy that should be interesting to watch. Contador is clearly the best time trialist at the top of the GC at the moment, and at this point it looks unlikely that he’ll be unseated. The question now is whether or not someone can crawl up and knock of the Schleck brothers. I think Armstrong can pass Frank with a good ride and get himself into a position to possibly get back on the Podium in Paris. Should be fun to watch, and the next few days are going to be great. It’s not quite over yet.

Unfortunately, it is over for Cadel Evans, who admitted that he is out of the race, at least as far as getting a podium finish. After finishing second the past two years, he was considered one of the top contenders again this year, but instead he has had the worst Tour of his five year career.

It is also over for Dutch rider Kenny van Hummel, a name that not many have heard of. van Hummel is consistently the last rider to cross the finish line, especially in the mountains, but his never-give-up attitude has endeared him to the rest of the Peloton, even as he struggled on to beat the time cut-offs each day. Yesterday for instance, he finished nearly 35 minutes behind the stage winner. He was also one of the fan favorites along the road as well, but he took a nasty fall today and was taken from the course by ambulance. Hopefully he’s okay and we’ll see him back riding again soon, as he is considered to be a promising young sprinter.

July 24th, 2009 by admin

Today’s stage of the Tour de France was the final individual time trial for 2009, and it promised to once again shake up the standings, as the climbers who took center stage the past few days were pushed aside in favor of the riders who specialize in putting their head down and attacking the course in as fast of a time as possible.

Heading into the day, Alberto Contador stayed in the Yellow Jersey, but climbing brothers Andy and Frank Schleck had pulled themselves up into second and third place following a brilliant ride in the Alps yesterday. Their performance in the time trial was going to go a long way towards determining their ultimate finishing position on the Champs Elysees on Sunday.

The gauntlet was thrown down early Fabian Cancellara and Mikhail Igantiev, both of which went out fast and had their times stand up throughout the day as other riders set out from the starting house. The riders faced a rather straight forward course that was mostly flat, although there was one 3km climb, and non-technical, which was a far cry from the twisty and demanding course that they started the Tour on back in Monaco.

As is traditional in the final time trial, the riders start in the reverse order of their standings in the General Classification. That meant that the top contenders wouldn’t hit the road until later in the morning, when guys like Lance Armstrong, Brad Wiggins, and Andreas Kloden would ride out just in front of Contador and the Schlecks. Armstrong was looking to gain time on Andy and hopefully knock Frank out of the top three, and he had a good right that eventually achieved both of those goals.

The star of the day was Contador though, as he once again showed that he is the strongest rider in the field, dominating the time trial and even riding the course faster than Cancellara. At the end of the day, Contador pulled away from his closest rivals, and tightened his grip on the Yellow Jersey. He now stands 4′11″ in front of Andy Schleck and 5′2″ ahead of Armstrong. Those are impossible gaps to close for any rider, barring any kind of unforeseen incident, and it now appears that Contador will coast into Paris in Yellow this Sunday.

The real battle now is for second and third place. Andy Schleck looks like he is in a good position to remain in the second spot, but third is wide open, with Lance Armstrong currently holding down that spot on the leaderboard, but Wiggins, Kloden, and Frank Schleck are all looming very close. With a final day of climbing on the horizon for Saturday, Armstrong is going to have a tough fight to stay on the podium.

Tomorrow, the Peloton returns to the road with a 178 km (110 mile) ride from Bourgoin-Jallieu to Aubenas. While the course has a few climbs, the largest being a Cat 2 late in the stage, it isn’t anything that should cause a shake-up on the leaderboard. There are even a couple of sprint sections for the points towards the Green Jersey, which looks to be heading to Paris with Thor Hushovd. Things will get really interesting on Saturday though, when the stage ends on a Beyond Category climb that will definitely have the contenders jousting once again.

So, the Tour really is beginning to wind down now. It ends Sunday of course, with the mostly ceremonial ride into Paris, where the Yellow Jersey winner looks to stay safe and sips champaign on the road. As mentioned, Hushovd now has a stranglehold on the Green Jersey and isn’t likely to give it up since he has a 30 point lead on Mark Cavendish. Italian rider Franco Pellizotti is way out in front in terms of the Polka Dot Jersey, and is in no danger of surrendering it either. And finally, the White Jersey seems to belong to Andy Schleck, who certainly isn’t going to be losing much time at all over the next few days in all likelihood.

July 24th, 2009 by admin

Coming off a rest day on Monday, the riders of the 2009 Tour de France were prepared for a long and challenging day in the mountains. Today’s stage 16 was a 159km (98 miles) jaunt from Martigny to Bourg-Saint-Maurice that featured two huge climbs, the first a beyond category beast and the second, a category 1 climb that provided fireworks at the top of the General Classification, but in the end resulted in no significant changes in the chase for the Yellow Jersey.

The stage got off to a busy start with a large breakaway on the slopes of the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard, the first climb of the day that led the riders out of Switzerland and into Italy. While there were a number of riders in the break, none of them posed a real threat to the Yellow Jersey, currently on the back of Alberto Contator, so his Astana team didn’t have to chase down the pack.

Where things started to get a bit more interesting was on the second climb of the day, the Cat. 1 Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard. At that point in the race, there were a couple of riders still away on the break, but the real battle for standings in the GC began when Andy Schleck made a move to gain some time on Contador, with Schleck’s brother Frank close at hand to monitor the chase. The group that went after Schleck included Brad Wiggins, Vincenzo Nibali, Contador and teammate Andres Klöden. Conspiculously missing from the group was Lance Armstrong, who was sitting in second place coming into the day. Other big names that fell behind included Fabian Cancellara, Thor Hushovd, Denis Menchov and Tony Martin, who had surrendered his White Jersey to Andy Schleck on Sunday.

Schleck put in a major effort, setting a fast pace up the mountain in an effort to drop Contador and gain precious time over the top. But Alberto would have none of it, and hung on Schleck’s wheel like he was out for a ride in the park. At no time did it appear that Contador was in any danger or dropping, and much like Sunday’s big stage win, he looked like the strongest rider on road.

One of the more impressive displays came when Lance Armstrong decided he had had enough of pacing the chase group and wanted to get back to the Yellow Jersey group. Lance shot off, leaving riders in his wake and covering the distance in no time. The burst showed that the 37-year old Armstrong still has strong legs and is in great condition, and put to rest any doubts that he’s lost much of anything in his three year absence from the Tour. It was an impressive display of riding.

Once the riders reached the summit of the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard, they faced a dizzying 18km descent at high speeds that saw a number of nasty crashes including one that put Jens Voight onto the tarmac. By that point, Spanish rider Mikel Astarloza had made a daring dash to the front and was holding on for dear life as he rocketed down the slopes with the other riders in pursuit. In the end, he would hold on for the stage win, with a chase group not far behind, and the pack of contenders about a minute back. That group was led in by Dave Zabriskie, who did most of the work on the descent, setting a blistering pace.

So, at the end of the day, not much has changed really, despite a few bold attacks. Contador is still in Yellow, Lance is in second place, and Brad Wiggins is looking great in third. Thor Hushovd is in Green, and looks to have completely shut down Mark Cavendish’s dreams of winning the sprint points. Andy Schleck has a solid grip on the White Jersey now, and doesn’t look like he’ll be relinquishing it before Paris, and Franco Pellizotti is wearing the Polka Dot Jersey of the King of the Mountains. The biggest loser of the day was Cadel Evans, who lost time to Contador and has now fallen to 17th place over all. A bit disappointing considering his expectations coming in.

Tomorrow the Peloton faces a 169.5km (105 mile) ride from Bourg-Saint-Maurice to Le Grand-Bornand that will once again test the climbers and most likely see attacks on the Yellow Jersey. The stage features no less than four Category 1 climbs, with a Cat 2 thrown in for good measure, so the presence of the mountains is likely to shed the field once again. I expect Andy Schleck to make another attack, and if Carlos Sastre is going to have his presence known, he needs to make a move soon too, although the way that Contador is riding, I’m not sure that it really matters. Fans of the Tour are going to love these next few days though, as they are all tough with big mountain climbs, before the final individual time trial on Saturday.

July 21st, 2009 by admin

I’ve been writing about them for the past week, since the Tour de France left the Pyrenees behind, and they are finally here. The Alps arrived in dramatic fashion for the Tour de France over the weekend, and as a result, we have a new leader. The weekend also brought an end to some of the drama around Team Astana, while controversy swirled around the competition for the Green Jersey.

Since leaving the Pyrenees behind, the race has mostly belonged to the sprinters, who chased points in the Green Jersey competition all week long. At one point, Mark Cavendish appeared to have that jersey all locked up after claiming his fourth stage win this year. His closest rival, Thor Hushovd, even seemed to concede that Cavendish would be in Green when the race reached Paris. But Cavendish made a bit of a miscalculation on Friday, a day with some challenging climbs, and Thor reclaimed the jersey heading into the Alps where sprint points are non-existent. The competition between the two heated up even more on Saturday, when Hushovd accused Cavendish of trying to press him into the barriers on a sprint finish. The judges agreed and docked Cav points, dropping him 18 points behind the “God of Thunder”, and all but assuring that it’ll be Thor in Green on the Champs-Elysees.

But the real competition is in the General Classification, where heading into Sunday, Rinaldo Nocentini had held on to the Yellow Jersey for more than a week. But he was expected to crack on the slopes of the Alps, and as predicted, he fell off the pace on the climb up Verbier, a Category 1 climb that hid the finish line at its summit. While on that mountain, the top riders all moved into position to attempt to make a move. Lance Armstrong and Alberto Contador were escorted by teammate Andres Kloden, who is having a great tour himself. The Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, were in the leading group, as was Cadel Evans and Bradley Wiggins, who seems to be the most improved rider of the Tour this year. All of the contenders hung tough and appeared to be suffering to some degree, and as if sensing that, Contador went on the attack, easily leaving the other riders in his wake, including teammate Armstrong. At the end of the day, he blasted across the finish line, taking the stage win, and donning the Yellow Jersey for the first time since he won the Tour back in 2007.

Contador’s strong ride showed that he is the man to beat in the tough week ahead. He was clearly the strongest climber and overall rider, but the race is far from over, and with several tough mountain stages in the next few days, it’ll be interesting to see how the other contenders react following tomorrow’s rest day. Tomorrow, in particular, is going to be a rough day for the riders, with two HUGE climbs, the first beyond category and the second a Cat 1 that will have the legs screaming. Look for Andy Schleck, Cadel Evans, and last year’s champion Carlos Sastre to make an attack on Contador. Sastre in particular had a great ride on Sunday and seems to be getting stronger as the Tour goes on.

As for Team Astana, who seemed to be having internal issues since the Tour began thanks to the presence of both Contador and Armstrong, who is currently in second place in the GC, 1 minute, 37 seconds behind the leader and 9 seconds ahead of the third place Wiggins. Following yesterday’s stage, Armstrong seemed to concede that Contador was the top rider on the team, and in the Tour itself, and that he wouldn’t be able to beat him going into Paris. So that should put an end to that controversy, and Alberto now has a focused, united team to take him home. They’ll have to work hard to hold off the challengers however, as no one else is conceding just yet.

July 19th, 2009 by admin

Friday’s stage of the Tour de France marked the return of the serious climbs as a prelude to the Alps that loom early next week, but the day got off to a gloomy start with the announcement that American rider Levi Leipheimer of Team Astana is out of the race following an accident yesterday that left him with a broken wrist. Levi was riding in fourth place in the General Classification before the accident, and his loss will play a major role in Astana’s strategy going forward. What this will do for the Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong in the days ahead will be interesting, and Levi was clearly the strongest rider on the team after those two.

The departure of Leipheimer seemed to cast a cloud over the entire race, as the Peloton had to deal with rain and cool weather the entire day. The stage was a 200km (124 mile) affair that ran from Vittel to Colmar, with plenty of climbs, including the Category 1 Col du Platzerwasel, stretched out across the ride. The conditions made it tough for the top riders to make a move on any of those hills, and as a result, the top of the leaderboard remains unchanged with Italian Rinaldo Nocentini still in Yellow, with Alberto and Lance Chasing.

That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t anything exciting to see in today’s race. There was an early break attempt that the Peloton took care to contorl, not letting them get out to more than a one minute lead, but at the 60km (37 mile) point, three riders put in an attack with Heinrich Haussler of Team Cervélo, Sylvain Chavanel of Quick Step and Ruben Perez Moreno from Team Euskaltel-Euskadi making a move for the win.

The three went out as far as nine minutes ahead of the Peloton, which quickly ate up the other members of the break, and dueled it out over several climbs before hitting the downhill sprint to the finish. Perez was the first to crack and fell of the pace of Haussler and Chavanel, who topped out and raced toward the line along a tricky, technical descent. Haussler managed to drop Chavanel at that point and raced ahead to a very emotional stage win, tears in his eyes as he crossed the finish line.

For the most part, the Peloton was once again controlled by Astana with some help from Saxo Bank. The leaders rode strong, and Lance was in command at the front, with Alberto on his wheel on that final climb. The pace of the top riders was enough to drop Denis Menchov and Bradley Wiggins, who now sits in fourth place over all with the departure of Leipheimer.

While the General Classification remains the same, there were changes to the status of the other jerseys today. While Mark Cavendish is practically unbeatable in a sprint, he doesn’t do well in the climbs, and as a result, God of Thunder Thor Hushovd recaptured the Green Jersey. In the next few days he’ll be looking to accumulate as many points as he can in the mountains in an attempt to hold off “the Manx Missile” down the stretch run to Paris. Egoi Martinez dropped the Polka Dot Jersey today as well, as Franco Pellizotti earned plenty of climbing points. Who will go home with the title “King of the Mountains” will be decided in the Alps next week. Tony Martin held on to his White Jersey for another day, and will be pressed to defend it in the days ahead.

Tomorrow’s stage is much like today, running 199km (123 miles) in length from Colmar to Besançon. The climbs won’t be nearly as challenging, but the weather is expected to be very similar, which always makes for surprises and challenging rides.

Rumors have begun to circulate about dissension in the ranks of Astana, as the two co-leaders of the team, Contador and Armstrong, vie for the position to be the one the team throws it’s weight behind. It is clear that the two men don’t see eye to eye, and Contador’s surprise attack last week in the Pyrenees has created a rift between him and Armstrong. In my opinion this will play out in one of two ways. Team manager Johan Bruyneel will have to either step in and proclaim who the team will push to Paris or they’re going to have to let the two men sort it out between the two of them in the Alps. As a fan of the sport, I’d love to see the latter. Guess we’ll find out next week.

July 17th, 2009 by admin

Stage 11 of the Tour de France was a lot like Stage 10. Sure, the route was a bit different, as was the scenery along the way, but at the end of the day, the results were the same, as Mark Cavendish sprinted past everyone else to win his fourth stage of this year’s Tour, and reclaim the Green Jersey from Thor Hushovd, who was able to maneuver into position coming down the stretch, but couldn’t quite get past the “fastest man in the world.”

Today’s route rolled through the hills between Vatan and Saint-Fargeau, a distance of 192km (119 miles) that offered little for the climbers to do. The Peloton played it safe most of the day, although there were a few crashes along the route, and a late breakaway had to be reeled back in by Team Columbia-HTC once again. And just like yesterday, George Hincapie and Mark Renshaw delivered Cavendish to the finish line, where he powered his way up hill to claim the stage. Previously, many had said that he hadn’t ever won on an uphill finish, but he silenced those critics today, pulling away from the field.

Otherwise, nothing else is changed. Nocentini is in Yellow, six seconds in front of Contador, and eight in front of Lance. Egoi Martinez holds on to the Polka Dot Jersey and Tony Martin is in White. As I’ve said several times before, nothing will like change in that department until next Tuesday, when the Alps make their first appearance, and they can’t come quick enough at this point. These by-the-numbers stages are not very exciting to watch, unless you’re into the sprinters and following the Green Jersey points.

Tomorrow, it’s on to Vittel by way of Tonnerre. The stage is 211.5km (131 miles) in length and offers a bit more in the way of climbs, although there is still nothing more than a Category 3 to deal with. The only real excitement will be whether or not anyone can challenge Cavendish, either out on the route or at the finish line.