Now that the Apline section of the Tour de France is over, Michael Rasmussen safely in Yellow possibly until Saturday’s Time Trial at Albi.The Time Trial will be the key to Rasmussen winning the Tour overall. The famouse meltdown that he experienced in the Tour’s last Time Trial in 2005 is legendary. The Danish climbing specialist comes to road racing from a mountain biking background. That would theoretically mean that he should be a better than average bike handler as far as road racers are concerned. Here is a video from Youtube showing the dreaded highlights of Rasmussen’s 2005 Time Trial.
Watching the video the impression is that 1) Rasmussen did not spend much if any time training on his time trial bike. He looks uncomfortable riding it especially on the descents. 2) He is a bundle of nerves and is choking. Yes, the Chicken was choking that day
Only one week to go until the calendar turns to 2006 and all self respecting cycling sites do one thing. They have to proclaim a cyclist of the year. Looking at L’Equipe, they point to Danilo DiLuca, obvious choice since he won two classics and followed up with a fourth place in the Giro. He kept his form throughout the summer classics to keep his lead solid. DiLuca’s performance at the very entertaining Giro helped to solidify his standing as one of the top riders of 2005. His gritty fights for the Maglia Rosa against Paolo Bettini in the early stages were fun to watch compared to the predictable Petachi sprint victories. DiLuca never faded as the Giro headed to the high mountains, but kept with the best climbers as his team GC leaders Garzelli and Cioni faded. The stage to Sestrierre where DiLuca matched Jose Rujano and Gilberto Simoni up the Col de la Tenda and Col dela Finestre showed DiLuca’s class as he was hampered by a muscle spasm. Plus, he made the ProTour leader’s jersey actually look stylish by dressing completely in white.
