Apr 24, 2009 0
Alll of the favorites together for the final kick up the Mur de Huy. Cadel Evans does the pace making at the bottom to string out the peloton and Davide Rebellin powers up for the win. Great win by a veteran rider who was almost written off into retirement.
Oct 11, 2008 0
Il Killer del Spoltore takes the win in the hilly late season classic in Italy. Tuttobiciweb.com has been posting video reports from their site. The commentary is in Italian, but you get a glimpse of one of the great fall classics in Italy.
The Finish
Pre-race interviews. Cadel Evans has a great command of Italian since he is married to an Italian lady.
Jul 27, 2008 0
(Photo by Jasper Juinen/Getty Images)
Team CSC’s strength could not help Carlos during the finak TT. So Carlos Sastre pulled out the TT of his life to hold off Cadel Evans and win the Tour de France by 58 seconds. Sastre was said to have covered the final 15km in the same time as World Champion TT specialist Fabian Cancellara (who came in second on the stage). Sastre did what most Yellow Jersey wearers do in the late TT and that is managing to hold on and win.
Common wisdom held that Cadel Evans would overtake the 1:34 advantage held by Sastre after his blazing win on Alpe D’Huez. The time gap did not seem like it was enough to keep Sastre in the lead, but Evans form was slowly fading into the third week. Since Prato Nevoso when Evans lost the Yellow Jersey to Frank Schleck. Team CSC was so strong and deep that they had more than one card to play. Once Schleck was in the lead not many expected Sastre to do anything other than defend his placing and get third or fourth as has been the case for a few years. Sastre’s attack and the defend the Schleck brothers played on Alpe D’Huez were a huge factor in Sastre getting the time he needed. If it was not for Andy and Frank checking every move with the tenacity of a junk yard dog then Sastre may not be in Yellow today.
REUTERS/Thierry Roge (FRANCE)
Evans was clearly fading as the Tour wound through the final week. His mountain performances were enough to keep things in check, but not having a particularly strong team vs. the strength of CSC wore down the Aussie along with the pressure of riding in Yellow. Evans has not been great with handling the pressure and after three week it wears enough to sap the extra energy needed to nail down a win. Evans final TT was good, but not enough to reel in Sastre and get the win he needed. It must have been deja vu as he was chasing a Spaniard who surprised everyone to win. Could Evans be the next eternal second like Jan Ullrich? Next year Team CSC may not be able to play the suprise “Here is Sastre” card and may not even have Sastre in the lineup. Andy Schleck looks to be the heir to the team leader throne for CSC/Saxo Bank. Next year will probably include a vengeful Astana team willing to pick up where Contador left off last year and other such as a rising Christian Vande Velde and sensational Bernhard Kohl. The road only gets tougher for Evans and next year will be make or break for the Aussie where second place won’t do for a third time.
Jul 24, 2008 1
Cadel Evans is 1:34 from reclaiming the Yellow Jersey during Saturday’s TT. Right now, Evans can chill for two days without the pressure of the Yellow Jersey. The Aussie rider is finding things tough with the throngs of press always clamoring for interviews. Two videos show just how prickly Evans is at the moment. Can’t say I blame him though.
Jul 23, 2008 0
(AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)
Frank Schleck has a bunch of contenders breathing down his neck for the Tour title. Austrian Bernhard Kohl is a surprise revelation that is only seven seconds off pace and could swipe the Yellow Jersey off Schleck’s shoulders by Wednesday night. Team CSC is definitely the strongest team in the race with Jens Voight and Fabian Cancellara doing massive amounts of work at the front of the group. Add Andy Schleck who just jumped into the Best Young Riders jersey and Carlos Sastre and other contenders should worry.
Denis Menchov lost some time today, but could still gain it back. Menchov lost a good deal of time in the scary descent into Jausiers coming down from 9,000 ft. of elevation. Vande Velde also lost time after trying to chase back from getting dropped and trailing by 35 seconds. Vande Velde crashed on the descent and came in 2:30 back losing major chunks of time. Not all hope is lost since tomorrow’s queen stage to L’Alpe D’Huexz could break things open.
Schleck so far seems to be in the driver’s seat. He won on L’Alpe D’Huez before, he has the strongest team that can work over the competition in the climbs leading up to the final. Other teammates are contenders so he could have Sastre attack and force others to follow. It is Schleck’s Tour to lose.
Bernhard Kohl has nothing to lose. He looks like he is barely hanging on sometimes but still seem to be there at the end. He could stick to Schleck’s wheel like glue and maybe even grab the Yellow tomorrow. Evans can simply ride Schleck’s wheel too and wait until the TT to overhaul him and take the lead. This is not exciting racing, and Evans has shown weakness at Prato Nevoso when the pace picked up. Schleck would need some time over Evans to be safe in the Yellow.
Menchov could gain the time lost tomorrow. The Russian has had bad luck wiping out at Prato Nevoso as he launched an attack then losing time today going into Jausiers. Things have not gone the way Menchov would like. But he can attack on the climbs and gain time and then gain more time on Schleck in the TT. So Menchov is the top threat to Schleck over all others.
Don’t overlook the desparation of Vande Velde who now has a little time to make up. He could try something to gain back time or simply wait and see who gets dropped and slide into a podium spot.
Anyway it is anyone’s guess who of the top six guys will be in Yellow by Sunday Night in Paris. This is the most open Tour in recent memory and is fun to watch.
Jul 14, 2008 0
PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Image
The first major mountain stage of the Tour de France dealt Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego a cold dose of Pyrennean reality. Jens Voight and the CSC power zombies crushed the field up the Col de Tourmalet climb. Voight is not a climber, just a power zombie bent on feeling pain. His twisting face was seen powering a select group of Tour contenders up the highest climb of the entire Tour de France while shatter riders lay behind on the switchbacks. CSC had declared a three pronged attack of Carlos Sastre, Frank and Andy Schleck. Sastre has been the eternal Tour contender who lacks the full all around ability of a winner. Sastre could not really capitalize on the work done by Voight to nail down a win or a solid punch to the rivals other than Cunego and Valverde. Sastre’s attacks were quickly pounced upon while Franck Schleck was able to take advantage of this and fly away with two Saunier Duval riders to get within a second of Yellow.
(AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)
Leonardo Piepoli and Juan Jose Cobo set a pace Schleck could not keep up. It was Piepoli’s turn to cross the finish in first on one of the toughest days of climbing so far in the Tour. Cobo seemed unable to keep up with Piepoli’s pace after the duo dropped Schleck, but Piepoli would shepard the Spaniard along so they could cross the finish one-two.
Meanwhile teammate Riccardo Ricco tended to the top Tour favorites. While Ricco launched a few attacks, Evans, Menchov, Vande Velde and Sastre did not give him much daylight. The top contenders were trading attacks with menchov usually coming to the front to keep the pace respectable so he does not blow, while others attacks. Vande Velde showed great form while setting the pace in the final few kilometers up the Hautcam Vande Velde kept in third place, but he looked very fresh compared to the others. Perhaps his form is coming in just in time for the tough parts of the Tour.
(AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)
Behind, Valverde may be on the backside of his peak or could be suffering from the effects of a crash two days ago. He could also be suffering from the first day in the mountains. Whatever the problem could be, his Tour is close to being over. His chances are not completely gone as he could recover enough with better performances later. But there are so many favorites that he may still be a marked man. Valverde and Cunego suffered badly on the Col de Tourmalet losing several minutes to the main favorites. The two riders now sit about six minutes back with some serious planning to do for getting back into top contention for the Tour.
Vincenzo Nibali is riding into a top placing. The Sicilian rider stayed mostly with the main group and now finds himself in 9th. Perhaps driven by his rivalry with Ricco, Nibali was seen launching attacks but also getting dropped a bit. So far the Pyrennes have been very friendly to Italian hopes with back to back wins by Saunier Duval Italian riders. Soon the Tour will pay a visit to Italy and stop in Cuneo.
Back to Schleck who must now be kicking himself for not grabbing an extra second. Or maybe not. He is one second away from Yellow, but does not have to do the extra work a Yellow Jersey wearer is required to do such as extensive interviews and such. Schleck can take it easy on the rest day while Evans will be interviewed like crazy. Look for CSC to try to get time bonuses or some other crazy moves with the CSC power zombies who live on pain. This Tour is far from over.
Jul 13, 2008 0
JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
Riccardo Ricco flash visions of Marco Pantani with the vicious atacks up the Col D’Aspin to claim his second stage win of the Tour. Ricco’s attack came up the final climb but before several kilometers of downhill. The main favorites in the select bunch that was left behind seemed to halt their attacks for the day once Ricco was off deciding to save their energy for the tough day to Hautcam tomorrow.
Team Columbia let the reigns of pace-making go to Euskatel Euskadi for most of the race and Caisse D’Epargne showed that they are the strongest team in the race by controlling the pace when things got dicey. Lampre also took up the chase at times, either to help control things for Cunego or limit the gains of another Italian Ricco. Vincenzo Nibali showed some strength with a follow up attack to Ricco that did not gain much time but put folks on notice to watch the young Sicilian.
JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images
Both of the two main favorites Alejandro Valverde and Cadel Evans had mediocre days. Valverde looked like he could be in trouble at times, but may have been taking things easy by resting for tomorrows tough stage. Valverde is still nursing inuries from a fall a few days ago. Cadel Evans hit the deck and paid a visit to the rolling doctor with some nasty looking bruises.
Jul 28, 2007 0
The order of the top three in the Tour did not get shuffled, but everyone is closer in time. This will probably not matter as Levi has already declared he will not challenge Evans for the number to spot and pull a “Vinokourov” on him. The reference to Vino is from two years ago when Alexandre Vinokourov took fifth place from Levi Leipheimer by sprinting for bonus times on the final day. This is a day that is usually considered an off day for overall GC contenders. The sprint seconds are really meant for the Green Jersey contenders.
