Stage 11: Vatan to Saint-Fargeau (192km)
Jul. 15th, 2009 09:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelleAnother day by numbers. Another early breakaway, caught by the end. This time, the catch, inexorable as death, happened at precisely 5k to the end, with Columbia Highroad leading the way under the banner. Watching from the helicopter, it's fascinating to see the mass dynamics, how the leadout men do their pull, then fade out, wide right, to get out of the way, sliding back through the peloton like mercury.
A few points of interest along the way today. We started with a bit of controversy from yesterday, which got me foaming at the mouth.
Perhaps the Tour officials thought the race needed some mixing-up. Hey, they tried that banning-the-radios thing, and all that resulted was a giant yawn. Maybe they thought the riders needed some manner of reprimand for not being exciting enough. Or maybe they just needed to to shake their bits and "remind everyone who's boss." So how did they assert themselves? By all-but-arbitrarily pointing to a space between two clumps of riders coming in at that big bunch finish yesterday, and saying that it represented a split. Then by further stating that the time difference was taken from the front of one group to the back of the next. Or something. It was pretty obscure. Why? Because it was total bull, that's why. Riders who finished in the same group as everyone else found themselves with fifteen seconds added onto their time. At this point in the race, as far as the top riders like Levi Leipheimer were concerned, you might as well take them out back behind the barn and shoot them.
I heard about this last night, and I thought, "Well, I didn't actually SEE a split, but, maybe...." Then they ran the footage this evening, and oh, I started the best rant on my head. It was great. It had fireworks, and train wrecks, and midgets. Yeah. Midgets. But then, just when I was about to commit it to pixels, it was announced that the officials had somehow reconsidered their judgment, and had generously changed their minds. How kind of them.
More seriously, though, Saxo Bank rider Kurt Asle-Arvesson, who had a nasty fall yesterday, did not start today. It turns out he broke his collarbone not just in one place, but in two. And yet finished the stage on it. Ouch. In further ouch, Vladimir Efimkin of AG2R seemed to have fallen at some point today, and had a bloody face, which is surprisingly something we thankfully don't see too often. Arms, legs, hips, yes. Faces, thankfully not so much. That happened off-camera, but Garmin's Canadian rider Ryder Hesjedal managed to do his little Dance of Gravity-Checking right in front of the camera. He clipped a wheel in front, and though he valiantly tried to stay upright, momentum won, and he fell heavily, his bike landing tanglingly on top of him for good measure. He got up and kept going, though, and barely grimaced when, at the race doctor's car, he had what was presumably antiseptic poured on his open wounds.
In a less ouch bit of information, there was an interesting discussion of how riders choose their gear and wheels for stages. Today, for example, we learned that as it was a sprint stage, Dave Zabriskie of Garmin Slipstream chose, along with his coach, to use wheels with very, very deep rims-- almost hybrids of regular wheels and time trial wheels. He'll sacrifice some maneuverability, but as it's a mostly straight, flat stage, he may make that up in speed.
But back to the race at hand. As there have been no crashes or wildly successful breakaways, there will be no change in the general classification, so the big competition today is for the the Green Jersey of the points competition. Norwegian Thor Hushovd currently wears it, but there are enough points at stake in this finish that the Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish, could take it back again if he wins.
We're into the town of Saint Fargeau now, mostly straight, but with a few curves. The whole field is together. Thor Hushovd is angling for it, but I see Tyler Farrar of Garmin FINALLY up right at the front-- could he finally get it? And--! Yeah. Who were we kidding? Columbia had the right spot at the right time, and delivered Mark Cavendish to the line. Cavendish has now in his career won eight stages of the Tour de France, equalling the British record of the great cyclist, Barry Hoban. Further, he's set a record for the most stage wins in the shortest amount of time, having won his eight stages in two Tours de France. And it's not like he doesn't have two more sprint stages to go for. But he's not thinking about that right now. It's obvious he's ecstatic. He fought for this, and won it fairly. Tyler shakes his fist in frustration, but then leans over and slaps Cavendish on the back in congratulation. Cavendish's having a hell of a day, and he's certainly quick to give credit to his team. Congrats to him!
So again, no change in the GC. Another two flat stages, and we're into the Alps.
Onward!
A few points of interest along the way today. We started with a bit of controversy from yesterday, which got me foaming at the mouth.
Perhaps the Tour officials thought the race needed some mixing-up. Hey, they tried that banning-the-radios thing, and all that resulted was a giant yawn. Maybe they thought the riders needed some manner of reprimand for not being exciting enough. Or maybe they just needed to to shake their bits and "remind everyone who's boss." So how did they assert themselves? By all-but-arbitrarily pointing to a space between two clumps of riders coming in at that big bunch finish yesterday, and saying that it represented a split. Then by further stating that the time difference was taken from the front of one group to the back of the next. Or something. It was pretty obscure. Why? Because it was total bull, that's why. Riders who finished in the same group as everyone else found themselves with fifteen seconds added onto their time. At this point in the race, as far as the top riders like Levi Leipheimer were concerned, you might as well take them out back behind the barn and shoot them.
I heard about this last night, and I thought, "Well, I didn't actually SEE a split, but, maybe...." Then they ran the footage this evening, and oh, I started the best rant on my head. It was great. It had fireworks, and train wrecks, and midgets. Yeah. Midgets. But then, just when I was about to commit it to pixels, it was announced that the officials had somehow reconsidered their judgment, and had generously changed their minds. How kind of them.
More seriously, though, Saxo Bank rider Kurt Asle-Arvesson, who had a nasty fall yesterday, did not start today. It turns out he broke his collarbone not just in one place, but in two. And yet finished the stage on it. Ouch. In further ouch, Vladimir Efimkin of AG2R seemed to have fallen at some point today, and had a bloody face, which is surprisingly something we thankfully don't see too often. Arms, legs, hips, yes. Faces, thankfully not so much. That happened off-camera, but Garmin's Canadian rider Ryder Hesjedal managed to do his little Dance of Gravity-Checking right in front of the camera. He clipped a wheel in front, and though he valiantly tried to stay upright, momentum won, and he fell heavily, his bike landing tanglingly on top of him for good measure. He got up and kept going, though, and barely grimaced when, at the race doctor's car, he had what was presumably antiseptic poured on his open wounds.
In a less ouch bit of information, there was an interesting discussion of how riders choose their gear and wheels for stages. Today, for example, we learned that as it was a sprint stage, Dave Zabriskie of Garmin Slipstream chose, along with his coach, to use wheels with very, very deep rims-- almost hybrids of regular wheels and time trial wheels. He'll sacrifice some maneuverability, but as it's a mostly straight, flat stage, he may make that up in speed.
But back to the race at hand. As there have been no crashes or wildly successful breakaways, there will be no change in the general classification, so the big competition today is for the the Green Jersey of the points competition. Norwegian Thor Hushovd currently wears it, but there are enough points at stake in this finish that the Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish, could take it back again if he wins.
We're into the town of Saint Fargeau now, mostly straight, but with a few curves. The whole field is together. Thor Hushovd is angling for it, but I see Tyler Farrar of Garmin FINALLY up right at the front-- could he finally get it? And--! Yeah. Who were we kidding? Columbia had the right spot at the right time, and delivered Mark Cavendish to the line. Cavendish has now in his career won eight stages of the Tour de France, equalling the British record of the great cyclist, Barry Hoban. Further, he's set a record for the most stage wins in the shortest amount of time, having won his eight stages in two Tours de France. And it's not like he doesn't have two more sprint stages to go for. But he's not thinking about that right now. It's obvious he's ecstatic. He fought for this, and won it fairly. Tyler shakes his fist in frustration, but then leans over and slaps Cavendish on the back in congratulation. Cavendish's having a hell of a day, and he's certainly quick to give credit to his team. Congrats to him!
So again, no change in the GC. Another two flat stages, and we're into the Alps.
Onward!