How can both Lance and France get exactly what they want at the same time? When a young French rider named Thomas Voeckler gets in a successful break of five and snags the yellow jersey from Lance, relieving him and his team from the pressure of defending it.
Although Postal was happy to have won the team time trial and be ahead of their main rivals, they had nary an interest in the intense work required to defend the jerseyat least not so early in the Tour. Their hope was that an ambitious group of young riders would leap off the front early in the race and wind up getting a sizeable gap on the peloton (but not one that couldnt be quickly erased once in the mountains) and they got their wish. Jacob Piilwho has been off the front of the bike race for something like 500km alreadyalong with Sandy Casar, Thomas Voeckler, 198-pounder Magnus Backstedt, and sprinter Stuart OGrady got up to 15 minutes on the peloton at one point before Postal reeled it in a bit to a more manageable 12 minutes. In the end of the break, none of the boys could match the mighty OGradys sprint, and Stuey won the day. But Voeckler had the best time on GC (General Classification) so he slipped into the most coveted fashion item in Francethe Maillot Jaunegiving the French their first rider in yellow in fifteen years. (Laurent Fignon wore it last in 89 before surrendering it to eventual winner Greg Lemond.)
Over the next five relatively flat stages, Voeckler has been both attentive and strong enough to keep it, giving France a full six days so far (including yesterdays rest day) with their own national champion wearing the leaders jersey. All in all, its good for France, good for Lance, and good for the Tour in general to be spreading the riches around. So far, weve had eight different winners for nine different stages (after Robbie McEwen won his 2nd today), and five different riders have worn yellow. In the most visible race in the cycling world where a single day in the news can legitimize a sponsors entire yearly budget, its good when so many riders can share in the publicity.
Unfortunately the bad weather has continued, causing a continual cycle of crashes, and as of only the 9h day of racing, over 100 of the 175 riders have been in crashesmany of them more than once. There have been a fair number of injuries but most are able to continue once bandaged up. However, about 30 riders have withdrawn so far, most notably GC contender Bradley McGee and top Italian sprinters Allesandro Petachi and Mario Cippollini. Sad to lose those last two before either had a chance to shine, and most of us fear we wont see Cippollini again. At 37, hes losing some of the sharpness in his quick-twitch fibers. But hes had a long career as a sprinter, and Ill be surprised if we see McEwen, Pettachi, Zable, and OGrady still racing at that age.
A few notes on yesterdays rest day. Its hardly a real rest day for the riders. To begin with, they all have to pack up, leave their hotels, get on a plane, fly transfer 500 miles from Quimper to Limoges, then unpack in their new hotels. Then they all still get in a ride just to keep the legs from stiffening up. So while a rest day for most of us would entail laying by the pool with a few beers, guys like Tyler Hamilton will still go out and ride an easy two and a half hours. Plus maybe a trip to the chiropractor to loosen up that stiff back from a crash. Toss in a few media interviews if youre a contender, too. Quite a rest, eh?
Tomorrow the climbing begins on stage 10 as they traverse the Grand Massif. Not only is it the longest stage in the Tour at 237km (147 miles), it features four significant climbs, one at a gradient of 8%. If ever there were a day for an opportune rider to try to get away on an early break, this is it. (Are you listening, Richard Virenque? Carlos Sastre?) Lance and the other contenders will probably not bother laying their cards out on this stage, but they will surely have to keep a watchful eye on whoever goes up the road.
As for me, I've done my last 5 hr training ride and am getting ready to fly over in the 15th. Can't wait to join the madness over there. Stay tuned.
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