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Stage 12: Tonnerre to Vittel (211.5km)
Jul. 16th, 2009 06:42 pmDid you see that?!
Seven-man breakaway's been out for G-d knows how long. Pretty normal. Suddenly, two men break away. It's nail-biting-- will they stay away? It's Nicki Sørensen, Danish rider from SaxoBank and Sylvain Calzati of Agritubel, and they're going as hard as they can, by their faces. They're trying to put seconds on the remaining five of the breakaway, but it doesn't seem to be working. And the red car of the team officials moves out from the space between them and the chasers, a disheartening sign, as that happens when the officials think it's likely the group will be caught, and they don't want to be in the way.
And then, all of a sudden, it's like Sørensen says, "Ooo! Did I leave the gas on? Gotta go!" And he just goes. Like he's been faking it for four or five hours now, and oh, NOW he's gonna race. He just takes right off. He is gone. It's 5.5km to the finish line, and the next time any of the chasers will see him again is on the podium. It's amazing.
I love, LOVE the looks on the face of a rider who just cannot believe he's about to win his first stage at the Tour de France. He looks behind him, he looks again, and his face just breaks into this massive grin. Sørensen in particular is a guy who's been a rock for his team, but whose own best finish seems to be 20th overall in '02-- thought to be fair, that's pretty damned awesome against the greatest riders in the world. But this? This leaps him way up the ladder-- he now has a Stage of his own, and that will top his CV forever. And done so brilliantly, too!
A bit of could-have-been worse happened shortly before the end-- a small crash involving both Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer. Levi Tweeted: "I'm ok folks, wrist hurts but not broken, lost some skin, it couldve easily been much worse. Not sure what happened? All I remember is. .Seeing the curb coming and thinking it was game over. I'm happy to hear @mickrogers is ok too". Poor Mick Rogers. He's not having the most accident-free Tour either, is he? At any rate, the reason this wasn't so bad is that it happened within three km of the finish. There's a rule that if a crash happens within that zone, any affected riders will receive the same time as the peloton. It used to be only the final km, but it's since been extended-- as of this year, I think. This makes it FAR less nervous at the end, when the bat-out-of-hell sprinters and their leadouts make the finish a madhouse. In fact, the way Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin knew the crash had occurred within the final three was that Cadel, with four teammates, and Levi, with one, crossed the line almost languidly, looking entirely unconcerned. Cadel was even having a chat with his mates.
And speaking of crashes, Sørensen's teammate, Kurt Asle Arvesen, who managed to break his collarbone in two places yesterday, had surgery today, and Tweeted a few hours ago: "Surgery went well. First thing they told me when I woke up was that Nicki won! So happy for him." I currently have no desire to Tweet myself, but I have to say, it's surely making this Tour more fun.
So tomorrow, we have some serious climbs as we head into the Alps. Perhaps we'll see some movement in the CG-- who knows? If nothing else, it's going to be gorgeous!
Seven-man breakaway's been out for G-d knows how long. Pretty normal. Suddenly, two men break away. It's nail-biting-- will they stay away? It's Nicki Sørensen, Danish rider from SaxoBank and Sylvain Calzati of Agritubel, and they're going as hard as they can, by their faces. They're trying to put seconds on the remaining five of the breakaway, but it doesn't seem to be working. And the red car of the team officials moves out from the space between them and the chasers, a disheartening sign, as that happens when the officials think it's likely the group will be caught, and they don't want to be in the way.
And then, all of a sudden, it's like Sørensen says, "Ooo! Did I leave the gas on? Gotta go!" And he just goes. Like he's been faking it for four or five hours now, and oh, NOW he's gonna race. He just takes right off. He is gone. It's 5.5km to the finish line, and the next time any of the chasers will see him again is on the podium. It's amazing.
I love, LOVE the looks on the face of a rider who just cannot believe he's about to win his first stage at the Tour de France. He looks behind him, he looks again, and his face just breaks into this massive grin. Sørensen in particular is a guy who's been a rock for his team, but whose own best finish seems to be 20th overall in '02-- thought to be fair, that's pretty damned awesome against the greatest riders in the world. But this? This leaps him way up the ladder-- he now has a Stage of his own, and that will top his CV forever. And done so brilliantly, too!
A bit of could-have-been worse happened shortly before the end-- a small crash involving both Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer. Levi Tweeted: "I'm ok folks, wrist hurts but not broken, lost some skin, it couldve easily been much worse. Not sure what happened? All I remember is. .Seeing the curb coming and thinking it was game over. I'm happy to hear @mickrogers is ok too". Poor Mick Rogers. He's not having the most accident-free Tour either, is he? At any rate, the reason this wasn't so bad is that it happened within three km of the finish. There's a rule that if a crash happens within that zone, any affected riders will receive the same time as the peloton. It used to be only the final km, but it's since been extended-- as of this year, I think. This makes it FAR less nervous at the end, when the bat-out-of-hell sprinters and their leadouts make the finish a madhouse. In fact, the way Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin knew the crash had occurred within the final three was that Cadel, with four teammates, and Levi, with one, crossed the line almost languidly, looking entirely unconcerned. Cadel was even having a chat with his mates.
And speaking of crashes, Sørensen's teammate, Kurt Asle Arvesen, who managed to break his collarbone in two places yesterday, had surgery today, and Tweeted a few hours ago: "Surgery went well. First thing they told me when I woke up was that Nicki won! So happy for him." I currently have no desire to Tweet myself, but I have to say, it's surely making this Tour more fun.
So tomorrow, we have some serious climbs as we head into the Alps. Perhaps we'll see some movement in the CG-- who knows? If nothing else, it's going to be gorgeous!