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Sunday, July 24th, 2011
Stage 21 — Creteil ~ Paris Champs-Elysees (160 km)
So, here we are. The final day. The end of the 2011 Tour de France. The ceremonial entrance of the peloton, led by BMC, onto the Champs-Elysées. Out of 198, only 167 riders have made it. The winner is already determined: after an amazing performance in yesterday’s time trial, Cadel Evans is the first Aussie to ever win this race, and his entire country is in ecstacy. Brothers Andy and Frank Schleck of Leopard Trek will take second and third, respectively. But there are two races left to win, today, and no one—no one—is slacking.
Mark Cavendish, at 19 stage wins, is rapidly closing in on Lance Armstrong’s record of 22 stages. Will he reach Eddie Merckx’s 34? Well, he’s a young guy. I wouldn’t put it past him. But coming onto the final laps today, he has only 15 points over Jose Joaquin Rojas in the points competition. At the sprint point for the stage, his leadout men surround him, making sure he not only takes the few available points, but his teammates take most of the rest, leaving very few for anyone else. There’ll be a sprint finish later on, too, of course, at the end. Mark’s finally, finally got the Green Jersey now, and by G-d, they’ll take it out of his cold, dead hands.
And, of course, there’s the stage itself. Mark is definitely gunning for it, and he’s won it twice before. But Tyler Farrar is looking extremely primed for it. There’s a six-man breakaway 30 seconds ahead as we go into the fourth of eight laps, but it won’t be long before the peloton reels them back in. There’s a Radio Shack rider in there—Sergio Paulinho, one of only five left in the show, poor guys. It’s not been their year at all.
Lampre and BMC are leading the field, which seethes and morphs: one point to the arrow, two, merging and splitting as each team looks for an advantage. The gap starts to come down—22 seconds, or 300 yards, as fast as they’re going. The race referee’s car pulls out of the gap behind them (so as not to interfere with the peloton), which I always imagine must always dishearten anyone in a breakaway. 18 seconds, and any minute, we’ll hear the bell for the last lap. This is going to be close. Round the Tuilleries again, and I can’t imagine how there are people strolling the gardens, oblivious to the race encircling them.
54kmph now, and the crowd against the barriers is screaming as the bell rings. 13 seconds to the peloton. Lampre is in front. Garmin is in front. There’s a rider off the front—Carlos Barredo— trying to bridge to the break. Where’s the organisation for the leadout?
Two riders—Ben Swift and Lars Bak—are the only ones now left in the breakaway. Bak is on Cavendish’s team, HTC. Will they let him win? Wait—there’s the huge HTC leadout train forming. Will they ride against their own man?
3km to go—they’re in the safety zone, and Cadel Evans is safely the winner even if he crashes. Bak is now the sole leader. Will he—no! He pulls over, slacks off. The peloton overtakes him, with Thor Hushovd close to the front, waiting for the right moment. Once more under the tunnel, back onto the Rue de Rivoli, and the inflated arch over the road is now flying the red flag indicating one km left.
And yes—it’s HTC’s monster of a train in front. They’ll take Cavendish to the line if it kills them. Is there anyone else? Edvalt Boassen Hagen is slipping away. Go! GO! Is it--- YES! Mark Cavendish pulls up the logo on his Maillot Vert as he crosses the line in ecstasy and takes his third win on the Champs Elysee! The 98th Tour is done!
BMC, in their red and black kits, pull over and swamp Cadel Evans in his Maillot Jaune. Their entire country is overjoyed. At the presentations, he can’t help crying—he’s come so close and had such horrendous luck the last few years, this is all the sweeter. Pierre Rolland is awarded “Best Young Rider” for the Tour. Sammy Sanchez takes the crown of King of the Mountains. Mark Cavendish is given the Green Jersey for the most points, and is quick to give all glory to the teammates that got him there. Team Garmin Cervelo takes the podium for the Best Team Award with a cardboard cutout of my beloved Dave Zabriskie, who abandoned almost two weeks ago after—guess what?—snapping his collarbone in a crash. It’s funny, yes, but also a really lovely show of camaraderie. And what a year the American team had: winning the Team Time Trial, a Tyler Farrar stage win the very next day, Tom Danielson finishing in the top 10, Thor Hushovd winning two stages and spending a week in yellow. And HTC? Another American team having a spectacular year. Perhaps we Americans are getting the hang of this cycling thing?
So. Another year I didn’t get to blog much, sidelined by illness and death. We’ll hope, shall we, that the Vuelta a Espana, which starts in just a few weeks, is better, yes? And I have an entry or two I began, but never finished. Thomas Voeckler keeping the Maillot Jaune for an amazing ten days. Chris Horner’s crash, Alexandre Vinokourov’s, Johnny Hoogerland’s. All spectacular, all game-changers in their way. Vinokourov, sadly, is done for good, as he was to have retired at the end of the Tour anyway. But Horner and Hoogerland will ride again. Indeed, Hoogerland managed to finish the race.
But as ever, there’s nothing quite like the Tour de France.
Stage 21 — Creteil ~ Paris Champs-Elysees (160 km)
So, here we are. The final day. The end of the 2011 Tour de France. The ceremonial entrance of the peloton, led by BMC, onto the Champs-Elysées. Out of 198, only 167 riders have made it. The winner is already determined: after an amazing performance in yesterday’s time trial, Cadel Evans is the first Aussie to ever win this race, and his entire country is in ecstacy. Brothers Andy and Frank Schleck of Leopard Trek will take second and third, respectively. But there are two races left to win, today, and no one—no one—is slacking.
Mark Cavendish, at 19 stage wins, is rapidly closing in on Lance Armstrong’s record of 22 stages. Will he reach Eddie Merckx’s 34? Well, he’s a young guy. I wouldn’t put it past him. But coming onto the final laps today, he has only 15 points over Jose Joaquin Rojas in the points competition. At the sprint point for the stage, his leadout men surround him, making sure he not only takes the few available points, but his teammates take most of the rest, leaving very few for anyone else. There’ll be a sprint finish later on, too, of course, at the end. Mark’s finally, finally got the Green Jersey now, and by G-d, they’ll take it out of his cold, dead hands.
And, of course, there’s the stage itself. Mark is definitely gunning for it, and he’s won it twice before. But Tyler Farrar is looking extremely primed for it. There’s a six-man breakaway 30 seconds ahead as we go into the fourth of eight laps, but it won’t be long before the peloton reels them back in. There’s a Radio Shack rider in there—Sergio Paulinho, one of only five left in the show, poor guys. It’s not been their year at all.
Lampre and BMC are leading the field, which seethes and morphs: one point to the arrow, two, merging and splitting as each team looks for an advantage. The gap starts to come down—22 seconds, or 300 yards, as fast as they’re going. The race referee’s car pulls out of the gap behind them (so as not to interfere with the peloton), which I always imagine must always dishearten anyone in a breakaway. 18 seconds, and any minute, we’ll hear the bell for the last lap. This is going to be close. Round the Tuilleries again, and I can’t imagine how there are people strolling the gardens, oblivious to the race encircling them.
54kmph now, and the crowd against the barriers is screaming as the bell rings. 13 seconds to the peloton. Lampre is in front. Garmin is in front. There’s a rider off the front—Carlos Barredo— trying to bridge to the break. Where’s the organisation for the leadout?
Two riders—Ben Swift and Lars Bak—are the only ones now left in the breakaway. Bak is on Cavendish’s team, HTC. Will they let him win? Wait—there’s the huge HTC leadout train forming. Will they ride against their own man?
3km to go—they’re in the safety zone, and Cadel Evans is safely the winner even if he crashes. Bak is now the sole leader. Will he—no! He pulls over, slacks off. The peloton overtakes him, with Thor Hushovd close to the front, waiting for the right moment. Once more under the tunnel, back onto the Rue de Rivoli, and the inflated arch over the road is now flying the red flag indicating one km left.
And yes—it’s HTC’s monster of a train in front. They’ll take Cavendish to the line if it kills them. Is there anyone else? Edvalt Boassen Hagen is slipping away. Go! GO! Is it--- YES! Mark Cavendish pulls up the logo on his Maillot Vert as he crosses the line in ecstasy and takes his third win on the Champs Elysee! The 98th Tour is done!
BMC, in their red and black kits, pull over and swamp Cadel Evans in his Maillot Jaune. Their entire country is overjoyed. At the presentations, he can’t help crying—he’s come so close and had such horrendous luck the last few years, this is all the sweeter. Pierre Rolland is awarded “Best Young Rider” for the Tour. Sammy Sanchez takes the crown of King of the Mountains. Mark Cavendish is given the Green Jersey for the most points, and is quick to give all glory to the teammates that got him there. Team Garmin Cervelo takes the podium for the Best Team Award with a cardboard cutout of my beloved Dave Zabriskie, who abandoned almost two weeks ago after—guess what?—snapping his collarbone in a crash. It’s funny, yes, but also a really lovely show of camaraderie. And what a year the American team had: winning the Team Time Trial, a Tyler Farrar stage win the very next day, Tom Danielson finishing in the top 10, Thor Hushovd winning two stages and spending a week in yellow. And HTC? Another American team having a spectacular year. Perhaps we Americans are getting the hang of this cycling thing?
So. Another year I didn’t get to blog much, sidelined by illness and death. We’ll hope, shall we, that the Vuelta a Espana, which starts in just a few weeks, is better, yes? And I have an entry or two I began, but never finished. Thomas Voeckler keeping the Maillot Jaune for an amazing ten days. Chris Horner’s crash, Alexandre Vinokourov’s, Johnny Hoogerland’s. All spectacular, all game-changers in their way. Vinokourov, sadly, is done for good, as he was to have retired at the end of the Tour anyway. But Horner and Hoogerland will ride again. Indeed, Hoogerland managed to finish the race.
But as ever, there’s nothing quite like the Tour de France.