Velochimp: Astrochimp on Cycling

(Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Lance Armstrong just missed his chance to cap off his 2009 comeback Tour with a Maillot Jaune presented by Ben Stiller. Instead, Fabian Cancellara had to accept Greg Focker’s kisses on the podium. Maybe it was a calculated move to not have the guy who cost him an $85 fine for lingering at a French coffee shop put a yellow jersey on his back. Plus, you don’t want to tire out your Astana team too soon with the job of defending the Jersey for more time than necessary. One cyclist “in the know” noted that Lance was the fifth person across the line and let up every so slightly to maybe cause the close micro-second difference.

But who has that much presence of mind after rocketing through 39km on a twisty TTT course that caused some top riders and half the Bbox Bouyges Team to crash?

The prospect of donning the Yellow and stamping his authority on the team as they head into the tougher stages would be tempting. But the true GC leaders don’t worry about wearing the Yellow in the fourth stage of the Tour, they would rather wait until the last day.

For Bjarne Riis, keeping the Yellow after another battle in the TTT with Johan Bruyneel and Lance Armstrong must be sweet. In 2005 Team CSC was defending the Yellow Jersey vs. the Discovery Channel team when David Zabriske mysteriously crashed in the last kilometer. Zabriske lost the jersey to Lance Armstrong and probably left the CSC squad stinging from the bad luck. Today Saxo Bank pulled back one second in the last section to keep Cancellara in Yellow. Cancellara could be seen at the front for most of the final sector pulling his team along to a respectable finish. This is no small task since the Andy and Franck Schleck are not very good Time Trialers, while Astana is stacked with TT experts.

Lance Armstrong was not at the Tour presentation, but he did give his reactions to the 2009 Tour route today.

First off, Lance likes the innovative route of the 2009 course that starts in Monaco with a 15km hilly TT and visits Barcelona and Girona, Spain.

“The route of the 2009 Tour de France strikes me as innovative and very interesting,” Armstrong said.

“From its start in Monte Carlo with a 15k time trial, to the reinstatement of the team time trial, to stages in my old hometown of Girona all the way to another visit to my old friend the Ventoux, I could not have hoped for a different Tour.”

That is well and good, but what about the red meat? Will Lance ride in the 2009 Tour and if so will he support Contador or will he demand to be numero uno?

“As to the leadership of the Astana team in 2009, it’s illogical to pre-select a leader for any race in October of the previous year,” Armstrong said.

“I have been around long enough to know that cycling is a team sport and I am fully committed to supporting the strongest rider in any race, whether that’s me, Alberto Contador, Levi Leipheimer, or Andreas Kloden.

Hmm, he is not saying he will ride in support of Contador, but he is not saying he won’t. But this statement clearly leaves the reigns of leadership wide open. Lance Armstrong has been around in cycling log enough to know that his Tour teams basically revolved around supporting Lance Armstrong’s road to victory. The USPS/Discovery Channel team had a clear number one rider and there really was no number two option. Look at the 2006 Tour when Discovery rode like a headless chicken.

There is not much doubt that Contador is the best stage racer in the world at this moment. But, Astana could be playing coy and trying to use its strength to “protect” Contador. Team CSC looked like they were supporting Frank Schleck for overall victory until Sastre attacked in the mountains with the help of the Schleck brothers constant marking of their rivals.

So, this will be an interesting development to watch. Is Astana being coy about Contador? Will Contador wish to spread his wings and go to another team where he is a clear leader? Or will Contador end up playing super domestique to an 8th Armstrong Tour win? This will be a fun year.

The 2009 Tour de France route was unveiled today in Paris. Notibly absent was Lance Armstrong who is Twittering from Austin and developing a radical new TT position. The Tour contenders in Paris including Alberto Contador and Cadel Evans liked the course.

The first stage is a 15km hilly TT in Monaco. The Team Time Trial is back on Stage Four. Ventoux on Stage 20. If the race is tight coming into the final stage it would provide for an epic finish. However, the course looks very grueling and could be well decided by then.

Only 55km of Individual TTs with a 38km Team Time Trial. The race looks to favor someone of defending champion Carlos Sastre’s ability. Not explosive in the TT, but a good enough climber. Sastre’s new Cervelo team has some horsepower with Thor Hushovd for the Team Time Trial, but it remains to be seen how his team will match up with Alberto Contador and the powerful Astana squad.

Team Saxobank may have a chance to bring Andy Schleck into contention since the shorter TT options may be forgiving to the young rider.

Everyone is waiting to see what Lance Armstrong does in July. Johan Bruyneel said that chances of a Lance return to France are 50/50.

Here is the list of stages.

Stages for the 2009 Tour de France

Stage 1 – July 4 – Monaco – Monaco, 15km (individual time-trial)
Stage 2 – July 5 – Monaco – Brignoles, 182km
Stage 3 – July 6 – Marseille – La Grande-Motte, 196km
Stage 4 – July 7 – Montpellier, 38km (team time-trial)
Stage 5 – July 8 – Le Cap d’Agde – Perpignan, 197km
Stage 6 – July 9 – Girona (Spain) – Barcelona (Spain), 175km
Stage 7 – July 10 – Barcelona – Andorra 224km
Stage 8 – July 11 – Andorra-la-Vieille – Saint-Girons, 176km
Stage 9 – July 12 – Saint Gaudens – Tarbes, 160km

● – July 13 – Rest day at Limoges

Stage 10 – July 14 – Limoges – Issoudun, 193km
Stage 11 – July 15 – Vatan – Saint Fargeau, 192km
Stage 12 – July 16 – Tonnerre – Vittel, 200km
Stage 13 – July 17 – Vittel – Colmar, 200km
Stage 14 – July 18 – Colmar – Besanon, 199km
Stage 15 – July 19 – Pontarlier – Verbier (Suisse), 207km

● – July 20 – Rest day at Verbier

Stage 16 – July 21 - Martigny (Switzerland) – Bourg-Saint Maurice, 160km
Stage 17 – July 22 – Bourg-Saint Maurice – Le Grand Bornand, 169km
Stage 18 – July 23 – Annecy – Annecy, 40km (individual time-trial)
Stage 19 – July 24 – Bourgoin-Jallieu – Aubenas, 195km
Stage 20 – July 25 – Montélimar – Mont Ventoux, 167km
Stage 21 – July 26 – Montereau-Fault-Yonne – Paris Champs Elysées, 160km

10 flat stages.
7 mountain stages
1 medium mountain stage.
2 individual time-trial stages.
1 team time-trial stage.

http://www.letour.com/

Here are some more great Tour de France photos including some very cool tilt shift effects from Boston.com. This is just the solution to your Tour de France withdrawal.

Frank Schleck of Luxemburg, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey, center, Sylvester Szmyd of Poland, rear, and Carlos Sastre of Spain, front, speed down Bonette_Restefond pass during the 16th stage of the Tour de France between Cuneo, northern Italy, and Jausiers, French Alps, Tuesday July 22, 2008. (AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

The yellow jersey group rides, on July 22, 2008, during the 157 km sixteenth stage of the 2008 Tour de France run between Cuneo (Italy) and Jausiers. French Cyril Dessel (AG2R/Fra) won ahead of French Sandy Casar (Francaise des Jeux/Fra) and Spanish David Arroyo (Caisse d’Epargne/Spa). (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

Boston.com: 2008 Tour de France – conclusion

(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.

The long breakaway worked and Marcus Burghardt won another stage for Columbia which is having an awesome Tour de France. Burghardt’s fortune is better than last year when he hit a dog.

The crazy descent of the Cole de la Bonnette featured the spectacular looking crash of John lee Augustyn who took the corner a little too fast. Thankfully Augustyn was not injured and was able to get back on with a new bike. The team did recover the bike, so there is no souvenir waiting for a mountain goat.

(AP Photo/Bas Czerwinski)

Ugh, hope this turns out to be nothing. The car of Johnny Schleck the father of Andy and former Yellow Jersey Frank Schleck was searched by customs agents.

So far news reports are simply that the car was searched for 30 minutes. Schleck’s car was then seen following the French customs police vehicle during the Tour stage. Nothing is concrete, but there is a sick feeling in the gut of all cycling fans at the moment.

Yahoo Sports News: Customs search car driven by Schlecks’ father

Update – from velonews.com

Sources say that officials found “no doping products or banned substances” in the car belonging to Andy and Frank Schleck’s father, according to Agence France Presse.

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.