Stages Three and Four
Jul. 12th, 2007 03:01 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelleStages Three and Four
Stage Three, Waregem to Compiègne (236.5km)
You didn’t miss much. No, really. The peloton slept through most of the stage. Seriously. Put me on a bike, give me enough caffeine, and I prolly coulda gone faster. And I can’t ride a bike.
Granted, had I been through the stresses and crashes of yesterday (or, okay, any day on the road), I’d be under my bed with my teddy bear singing nursery rhymes and probably drooling. Or at least whimpering. But the peloton rode at a…shall we say stately pace of roughly 20mph for most of the day, stretching the slowest estimated time of arrival back a full hour, for just shy of seven hours total. Nicolas Vogondy of the Agritubel team and Matthieu Ladagnous from Francaise Des Jeux made a break at the 6k mark, illiciting a giant yawn from the rest of the field. There’s a good bit of strategy in not responding: this is the longest stage of the Tour, it’s flat, and there’s not a lot to be gained wiping yourself out catching a few guys not high enough in the GC (General Standings) to challenge the big names and their teams.
The two set a langorous pace, but even so managed to get up to almost fourteen minutes’ lead (making Vogondy the virtual race leader for a time) before, several hours later, the peloton woke up from its nap and began the chase. Finally, with 52km to go in the stage, Stephane Auge of Cofidis and Frederick Willems of Liquigas caught up with Ladagnous and Vogondy. The four traded off leading the breakaway, working together towards the very faint hope of keeping away to the line.
So the fact that they were caught isn’t really a surprise. But the way in which the stage finished was.
Mere minutes from the end, as the field swallowed them whole, they powered towards the line in a frenzy. And all of a sudden-- and all alone, with no supporting teammates to lead him out--a streak of bright yellow passed them as if they were all pedaling backwards, as Fabian Cancellara shot over the line first.
Now, you might think, “Well, he’s the race leader. Of course he’s fast.” But remember: each rider usually has one particular strength, and Cancellara is a time-trialler, not a sprinter. Also, though the Maillot Jaune often gives its wearer near-superhuman strength and speed, it’s usually smarter to play it safe, finish near enough to the front to avoid crashes, and collect your next stuffed lion quietly. But no, there he was, taking both the stage win and the lion. Well done.
Stage Four
Villers Cotterets to Joigny (193km)
A five-man breakaway led for most of today’s stage, all on French soil, and starting to get somewhat hilly. One of the riders was Juan Antonio Fletcha, winner of 2003’s Stage 11, and a rider for Rabobank. He and the other riders worked together, trading off for the intermediate sprints and each gaining points in the prestigious green jersey points competition.
But as the Tour thundered through the jaw-droppingly gorgeous medieval villages—one with two dangerously narrow gates like needle-eyes in the route—it was all but certain that even with their excellent work, the main excitement would come at the line, in this year’s first true sprint finish. The nice, wide road was the perfect finishing point, and the peloton kept together, holding itself ready and not attacking the two riders left in the breakaway to keep things simple for the end.
As Christian Knees (of Milram) and Fletcha shook hands for a job well done, moving over to let the peloton safely overtake them, Lamprey and CSC and Quick-Step battled a strong crosswind to properly position their lead-out men with three miles to go. While Tom Boonen was easy to spot from the air, Robbie McEwen lurked, undetectable as usual. Riders peeled off one by one after doing their jobs, holding steady, constantly looking behind to judge the field.
1000 metres—blocks of colour as teams jockey for position, the last lead-out men pumping as hard as they can with their leaders in their wake, closer and closer-- and with utmost precision, Julian Dean of Credit Agricole swings just barely wide enough to deliver Thor Hushovd to the line free and clear. Robbie Hunter of Barloworld, who himself swung out of Thor’s slipstream at the last second, missed by half a wheel, and shook his head and fist in bitter disappointment. But this is Thor’s first win of the season, and it’s a big one.
It’s a beautiful thing, the strategy of a brilliant sprint finish. I’ve been watching this race since Greg LeMonde kicked Laurent Fignon’s ass in 1989, and I still don’t get it all. I often find myself just cheering the end itself, happy with whomever wins, appreciating the skill and strategy and speed that got them there. How can you not love a sport that gives you that?
Today’s Trivia: Some cycling jerseys can cost up to $700. For that, they’d better give you a full upper-body massage.
Freddy Rodriguez of CSC, who limped in last so horribly in Stage Two, got ten stitches in his arm, and dislocated his shoulder. And did not withdraw.
In Stage One, when David Millar led a breakaway for 150km, he managed to simultaneously plant 150 trees in Mali. His team, Saunier-Duval, pledged to plant one tree for every mile covered in a breakaway for any of their riders. Pretty nifty.
Stage Three, Waregem to Compiègne (236.5km)
You didn’t miss much. No, really. The peloton slept through most of the stage. Seriously. Put me on a bike, give me enough caffeine, and I prolly coulda gone faster. And I can’t ride a bike.
Granted, had I been through the stresses and crashes of yesterday (or, okay, any day on the road), I’d be under my bed with my teddy bear singing nursery rhymes and probably drooling. Or at least whimpering. But the peloton rode at a…shall we say stately pace of roughly 20mph for most of the day, stretching the slowest estimated time of arrival back a full hour, for just shy of seven hours total. Nicolas Vogondy of the Agritubel team and Matthieu Ladagnous from Francaise Des Jeux made a break at the 6k mark, illiciting a giant yawn from the rest of the field. There’s a good bit of strategy in not responding: this is the longest stage of the Tour, it’s flat, and there’s not a lot to be gained wiping yourself out catching a few guys not high enough in the GC (General Standings) to challenge the big names and their teams.
The two set a langorous pace, but even so managed to get up to almost fourteen minutes’ lead (making Vogondy the virtual race leader for a time) before, several hours later, the peloton woke up from its nap and began the chase. Finally, with 52km to go in the stage, Stephane Auge of Cofidis and Frederick Willems of Liquigas caught up with Ladagnous and Vogondy. The four traded off leading the breakaway, working together towards the very faint hope of keeping away to the line.
So the fact that they were caught isn’t really a surprise. But the way in which the stage finished was.
Mere minutes from the end, as the field swallowed them whole, they powered towards the line in a frenzy. And all of a sudden-- and all alone, with no supporting teammates to lead him out--a streak of bright yellow passed them as if they were all pedaling backwards, as Fabian Cancellara shot over the line first.
Now, you might think, “Well, he’s the race leader. Of course he’s fast.” But remember: each rider usually has one particular strength, and Cancellara is a time-trialler, not a sprinter. Also, though the Maillot Jaune often gives its wearer near-superhuman strength and speed, it’s usually smarter to play it safe, finish near enough to the front to avoid crashes, and collect your next stuffed lion quietly. But no, there he was, taking both the stage win and the lion. Well done.
Stage Four
Villers Cotterets to Joigny (193km)
A five-man breakaway led for most of today’s stage, all on French soil, and starting to get somewhat hilly. One of the riders was Juan Antonio Fletcha, winner of 2003’s Stage 11, and a rider for Rabobank. He and the other riders worked together, trading off for the intermediate sprints and each gaining points in the prestigious green jersey points competition.
But as the Tour thundered through the jaw-droppingly gorgeous medieval villages—one with two dangerously narrow gates like needle-eyes in the route—it was all but certain that even with their excellent work, the main excitement would come at the line, in this year’s first true sprint finish. The nice, wide road was the perfect finishing point, and the peloton kept together, holding itself ready and not attacking the two riders left in the breakaway to keep things simple for the end.
As Christian Knees (of Milram) and Fletcha shook hands for a job well done, moving over to let the peloton safely overtake them, Lamprey and CSC and Quick-Step battled a strong crosswind to properly position their lead-out men with three miles to go. While Tom Boonen was easy to spot from the air, Robbie McEwen lurked, undetectable as usual. Riders peeled off one by one after doing their jobs, holding steady, constantly looking behind to judge the field.
1000 metres—blocks of colour as teams jockey for position, the last lead-out men pumping as hard as they can with their leaders in their wake, closer and closer-- and with utmost precision, Julian Dean of Credit Agricole swings just barely wide enough to deliver Thor Hushovd to the line free and clear. Robbie Hunter of Barloworld, who himself swung out of Thor’s slipstream at the last second, missed by half a wheel, and shook his head and fist in bitter disappointment. But this is Thor’s first win of the season, and it’s a big one.
It’s a beautiful thing, the strategy of a brilliant sprint finish. I’ve been watching this race since Greg LeMonde kicked Laurent Fignon’s ass in 1989, and I still don’t get it all. I often find myself just cheering the end itself, happy with whomever wins, appreciating the skill and strategy and speed that got them there. How can you not love a sport that gives you that?
Today’s Trivia: Some cycling jerseys can cost up to $700. For that, they’d better give you a full upper-body massage.
Freddy Rodriguez of CSC, who limped in last so horribly in Stage Two, got ten stitches in his arm, and dislocated his shoulder. And did not withdraw.
In Stage One, when David Millar led a breakaway for 150km, he managed to simultaneously plant 150 trees in Mali. His team, Saunier-Duval, pledged to plant one tree for every mile covered in a breakaway for any of their riders. Pretty nifty.