Nine to Twelve.
Jul. 21st, 2007 03:27 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelleStage…er….
Okay, I’m way behind. There’s been a lot of cycling. Some guys win some stages, some guys got eliminated, some guys crashed. Okay, that’s it.
So. Stage Eleven was insanely fast, as Astana, the team from Khazakstan, pushed the pace—possibly in a touch of retribution against French AG2R rider Chrisophe Moreau, who crashed early in the stage. When Alexandre Vinokourov crashed several stages ago, Moreau attacked again and again, pushing the badly battered Khazak rider. So in a stage with a very strong crosswind playing havoc with the race, Astana made sure they’d not get left at the gate; in the end, Moreau went from a strong contender to a long shot, adding over three minutes to his four-minute deficit. The stage was won, however, by Robbie Hunter of the wildcard South African team Barloworld. A crash half a k from the line took out a good chunk of the peloton, but it was still a good, clean sprint to the end. No serious injuries in that crash, but today we’re down to 168 men all the same. Sadly, I couldn’t find my true love, Dave Zabriskie, in the post-race listings. And indeed, sadly, he came in over half an hour after Hunter, and was thus eliminated. As his contract with CSC is up this year, I’d be nervous were I him.
Stage Twelve started out with a variety of failed attacks, until, at the 57k mark, Amets Txurruka (no, I don’t know how it’s pronounced, either) of Bouygues Telecom and Pierrick Fedrigo of Euskatel Euskadi made a run for it that lasted almost to the finish line itself. Literally one minute from the end, the two shook hands for a job well done as the peloton overtook them, setting up for a furious sprint finish. Tom Boonen of Quick-Step managed to pull yet another victory out of seemingly nowhere, which obviously did much to assuage the frustration he must have been feeling after a series of narrow misses over the last few stages.
We’re in the flats now between the Alps and the Pyrenees. The time differences have gotten longer as the mountains have gotten higher. The Maillot Jaune the last few stages has remained on the back of Danish rider Michael Rasmussen, who started the day with not only yellow, but the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey, and perhaps the biggest personal “scandal.” It seems the Danish cycling association, not content with their biggest name ever holding not one but two jerseys, decided to make absolutely positively sure everyone knew his name by picking this exact moment to announce they’d be dropping him from professional cycling for the rest of the season, and striking him from consideration for the 2008 Olympics. Not for doping. Oh, no. For not filing his paperwork on time.
More than any other athletes on the planet, professional cyclists are assumed to be guilty of doping, and operate under a cloud of constant suspicion. They must make themselves available for drug testing at any minute of the day, no matter where they are. Lance Armstrong told stories of going out with then-girlfriend Sheryl Crow and his kids and coming home to find cycling officials on his doorstep, demanding he pee in a cup immediately. To facilitate that charming prospect, each cyclist must file a travel diary listing exactly where he will be at any given time. Rasmussen—who has never tested positive for anything—filed his diary late. He hasn’t tested positive in the off-season. He hasn’t tested positive in the ON-season. And this infraction happened weeks ago, on June 26th So why are they making it an issue now? Who the hell knows. Maybe so Denmark can look serious and tough. But it looks, really, like they’ve banned him from the world championship and kicked him off their world team simply because they didn’t like his attitude, and felt like slapping him in the face as publicly as possible.
But, er…psst! Denmark! He’s one of the best in the world, and certainly the best you have. Maybe you might wanna rethink this…?
And lest ye think it’s only the Danes acting slightly out of proportion, this week’s other big news was German television—second only to France for massive Tour coverage—has thrown up its hands in disgust and walked away from the race after one of their riders, Patrik Sinkewitz of T-Mobile, tested positive for our old friend, testosterone. While a deal was immediately reached with two other German stations, the Tour organizers are really damned if they do, damned if they don’t. They take seriously the responsibility of disciplining those who dope, and meting out punishment, but then they in turn get punished for riders breaking their laws. And this it turning out to be the worst ever season imaginable for T-Mobile. First they lose Jan Ullrich in a cloud of suspicion before the Tour starts. Then their new star, Mark Cavendish, has a technical blowout and misses a sprint that could have brought him a stage victory. Then, even better, Cavendish gets on a plane and goes home—according to plan, yes, but it just looks…well, sad. Sinkewitz, after colliding with a spectator after the day’s stage and while on his way back to his hotel, winds up in the hospital with the spectator winding up in a coma. And a side-order of drug scandal there, please. Oh, and this one’s great: Marcus Burghardt collides with a spectator’s dog, for G-d’s sake, and flies off his bike. Thankfully, all involved walked away unharmed. Just which Teutonic god did T-Mobile piss off?
But back to more recent stages, which afford much brighter news. The last several days have brought not one but two wins for South African team Barloworld: a team which came together only a month before le Tour. Juan Mauricio Soler, a 24-year-old from Colombia, treated viewers to a magnificent solo ride through the Alps in Stage Nine, reaching descent speeds of almost 50 miles an hour. And Stage Eleven brought another win for the South African team as Robbie Hunter, who missed a stage win by mere inches last week, finally got a Tour de France stage podium spot and trophy of his own, the first African ever to do so. The Tenth Stage was—at last!—a win for a French rider: Cedric Vasseur of Quick-Step. He was part of a five-man breakaway that came down to the finish with each man watching the others to see who’d start the mad sprint to the finish. Closer and closer they crept, like the kids in the Life Cereal commercial: “I’m not gonna blow out my legs first. YOU do it.” Until, of course, by some insane cycling logic, they all blasted off to a very exciting sprint finish that gave Vasseur, who, at 37, is retiring, a win to match the stage victory that began his Tour career in 1997.
So that brings us up to date. Tomorrow’s stage is a time-trial, which should shake things up massively. Michael Rasmussen is a dreadful time-trialler, and most folks in the know—which now includes you—all but take it for granted he’ll take a tumble in the standings by tomorrow afternoon. Any of the top-placed riders—of which Levi Leipheimer is one—could make a solid leap upwards as we enter the final week of the race. Should be quite yummy.
Okay, I’m way behind. There’s been a lot of cycling. Some guys win some stages, some guys got eliminated, some guys crashed. Okay, that’s it.
So. Stage Eleven was insanely fast, as Astana, the team from Khazakstan, pushed the pace—possibly in a touch of retribution against French AG2R rider Chrisophe Moreau, who crashed early in the stage. When Alexandre Vinokourov crashed several stages ago, Moreau attacked again and again, pushing the badly battered Khazak rider. So in a stage with a very strong crosswind playing havoc with the race, Astana made sure they’d not get left at the gate; in the end, Moreau went from a strong contender to a long shot, adding over three minutes to his four-minute deficit. The stage was won, however, by Robbie Hunter of the wildcard South African team Barloworld. A crash half a k from the line took out a good chunk of the peloton, but it was still a good, clean sprint to the end. No serious injuries in that crash, but today we’re down to 168 men all the same. Sadly, I couldn’t find my true love, Dave Zabriskie, in the post-race listings. And indeed, sadly, he came in over half an hour after Hunter, and was thus eliminated. As his contract with CSC is up this year, I’d be nervous were I him.
Stage Twelve started out with a variety of failed attacks, until, at the 57k mark, Amets Txurruka (no, I don’t know how it’s pronounced, either) of Bouygues Telecom and Pierrick Fedrigo of Euskatel Euskadi made a run for it that lasted almost to the finish line itself. Literally one minute from the end, the two shook hands for a job well done as the peloton overtook them, setting up for a furious sprint finish. Tom Boonen of Quick-Step managed to pull yet another victory out of seemingly nowhere, which obviously did much to assuage the frustration he must have been feeling after a series of narrow misses over the last few stages.
We’re in the flats now between the Alps and the Pyrenees. The time differences have gotten longer as the mountains have gotten higher. The Maillot Jaune the last few stages has remained on the back of Danish rider Michael Rasmussen, who started the day with not only yellow, but the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey, and perhaps the biggest personal “scandal.” It seems the Danish cycling association, not content with their biggest name ever holding not one but two jerseys, decided to make absolutely positively sure everyone knew his name by picking this exact moment to announce they’d be dropping him from professional cycling for the rest of the season, and striking him from consideration for the 2008 Olympics. Not for doping. Oh, no. For not filing his paperwork on time.
More than any other athletes on the planet, professional cyclists are assumed to be guilty of doping, and operate under a cloud of constant suspicion. They must make themselves available for drug testing at any minute of the day, no matter where they are. Lance Armstrong told stories of going out with then-girlfriend Sheryl Crow and his kids and coming home to find cycling officials on his doorstep, demanding he pee in a cup immediately. To facilitate that charming prospect, each cyclist must file a travel diary listing exactly where he will be at any given time. Rasmussen—who has never tested positive for anything—filed his diary late. He hasn’t tested positive in the off-season. He hasn’t tested positive in the ON-season. And this infraction happened weeks ago, on June 26th So why are they making it an issue now? Who the hell knows. Maybe so Denmark can look serious and tough. But it looks, really, like they’ve banned him from the world championship and kicked him off their world team simply because they didn’t like his attitude, and felt like slapping him in the face as publicly as possible.
But, er…psst! Denmark! He’s one of the best in the world, and certainly the best you have. Maybe you might wanna rethink this…?
And lest ye think it’s only the Danes acting slightly out of proportion, this week’s other big news was German television—second only to France for massive Tour coverage—has thrown up its hands in disgust and walked away from the race after one of their riders, Patrik Sinkewitz of T-Mobile, tested positive for our old friend, testosterone. While a deal was immediately reached with two other German stations, the Tour organizers are really damned if they do, damned if they don’t. They take seriously the responsibility of disciplining those who dope, and meting out punishment, but then they in turn get punished for riders breaking their laws. And this it turning out to be the worst ever season imaginable for T-Mobile. First they lose Jan Ullrich in a cloud of suspicion before the Tour starts. Then their new star, Mark Cavendish, has a technical blowout and misses a sprint that could have brought him a stage victory. Then, even better, Cavendish gets on a plane and goes home—according to plan, yes, but it just looks…well, sad. Sinkewitz, after colliding with a spectator after the day’s stage and while on his way back to his hotel, winds up in the hospital with the spectator winding up in a coma. And a side-order of drug scandal there, please. Oh, and this one’s great: Marcus Burghardt collides with a spectator’s dog, for G-d’s sake, and flies off his bike. Thankfully, all involved walked away unharmed. Just which Teutonic god did T-Mobile piss off?
But back to more recent stages, which afford much brighter news. The last several days have brought not one but two wins for South African team Barloworld: a team which came together only a month before le Tour. Juan Mauricio Soler, a 24-year-old from Colombia, treated viewers to a magnificent solo ride through the Alps in Stage Nine, reaching descent speeds of almost 50 miles an hour. And Stage Eleven brought another win for the South African team as Robbie Hunter, who missed a stage win by mere inches last week, finally got a Tour de France stage podium spot and trophy of his own, the first African ever to do so. The Tenth Stage was—at last!—a win for a French rider: Cedric Vasseur of Quick-Step. He was part of a five-man breakaway that came down to the finish with each man watching the others to see who’d start the mad sprint to the finish. Closer and closer they crept, like the kids in the Life Cereal commercial: “I’m not gonna blow out my legs first. YOU do it.” Until, of course, by some insane cycling logic, they all blasted off to a very exciting sprint finish that gave Vasseur, who, at 37, is retiring, a win to match the stage victory that began his Tour career in 1997.
So that brings us up to date. Tomorrow’s stage is a time-trial, which should shake things up massively. Michael Rasmussen is a dreadful time-trialler, and most folks in the know—which now includes you—all but take it for granted he’ll take a tumble in the standings by tomorrow afternoon. Any of the top-placed riders—of which Levi Leipheimer is one—could make a solid leap upwards as we enter the final week of the race. Should be quite yummy.