Stage 14 - Grenoble to Risoul 177km/110m
Jul. 19th, 2014 11:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysobelleAssassins.
So we have a leading group of eleven riders, now, halfway through the stage, and this bit of bravery has won them what, now? That's right. First up the side of a Hors Categorie climb. But the riders in this breakaway are attacking each other, trying to get up the mountain even sooner than the others. We're 10km to the end, and Allessandro De Marchi takes a stab at it, and is followed by another ambitious rider, Tinkoff Saxo's Rafal Majka, who reaches out and taps him. Not to tell him to get out of the way, but to invite him to take his back wheel and work together. Fort a few minutes. Before Majka takes off.
A little further back, we see Jakob Fugelsang struggling to keep up. This poor guy not only crashed yesterday, but slid. Hard. For many meters. I'm amazed he's even on the bike today, much less still in it.
5.8km to go. Majka is still in the front, all by himself, and it's looking like he's a maybe for the stage win. He's over an hour down in the standings, so no one in the GC is really caring. He's a young rider-- not even 25 yet-- but a good one. Can he keep this up to the top of the mountain?
More attacks from the Yellow Jersey group. One after the other-- and now it's Nibali! He's not content with his existing lead, he wants more! He takes off with only one rider trying to keep up. Alejandro Valverde tries, Tejay Van Garderen follow him, both of them aiming to move up a little. They are STILL climbing, but they don't care.
Majka is holding on for dear life. His lead is down to 52 seconds. Nibali is having none of it. There's an AG2R rider, Jean-Christophe Péraud, with him, hanging on with all he's got. The group behind them is beating the snot out of each other, attack after attack. Has Valverde cracked? How the hell did THAT happen?
One kilometer to go! Can Nibali grab the stage win from Majka? No. Nope. The Polish rider, in his first Tour, looks certain. But the action is behind him: Van Garderen is back there, and Frank Schleck, from whom we've heard almost nothing this race. All attacking each other.
Rafal Majka comes around the corner, looking behind him over and over again-- he doesn't even stop to zip up his jersey! But it doesn't matter: he's over the line alone. 24 years old, and he's got a Tour Stage win. Behind him, Nibali is pushing hard. The stage may be won, but he's going to fight for every second of increased lead. For a split second, it almost looks like Péraud might grab second, but nope. Nibali is having none of that. He takes second, and keep the Maillot Jaune easily. Joaquim Rodriguez grabs the King of the Mountains, now, and is actually tied with Rafal Majka.
Another day wherein the Alps are joyfully whacking the hell out of the race, and, of course, we have yet more of it tomorrow. Quite enjoyable!
If you're an assassin.
So we have a leading group of eleven riders, now, halfway through the stage, and this bit of bravery has won them what, now? That's right. First up the side of a Hors Categorie climb. But the riders in this breakaway are attacking each other, trying to get up the mountain even sooner than the others. We're 10km to the end, and Allessandro De Marchi takes a stab at it, and is followed by another ambitious rider, Tinkoff Saxo's Rafal Majka, who reaches out and taps him. Not to tell him to get out of the way, but to invite him to take his back wheel and work together. Fort a few minutes. Before Majka takes off.
A little further back, we see Jakob Fugelsang struggling to keep up. This poor guy not only crashed yesterday, but slid. Hard. For many meters. I'm amazed he's even on the bike today, much less still in it.
5.8km to go. Majka is still in the front, all by himself, and it's looking like he's a maybe for the stage win. He's over an hour down in the standings, so no one in the GC is really caring. He's a young rider-- not even 25 yet-- but a good one. Can he keep this up to the top of the mountain?
More attacks from the Yellow Jersey group. One after the other-- and now it's Nibali! He's not content with his existing lead, he wants more! He takes off with only one rider trying to keep up. Alejandro Valverde tries, Tejay Van Garderen follow him, both of them aiming to move up a little. They are STILL climbing, but they don't care.
Majka is holding on for dear life. His lead is down to 52 seconds. Nibali is having none of it. There's an AG2R rider, Jean-Christophe Péraud, with him, hanging on with all he's got. The group behind them is beating the snot out of each other, attack after attack. Has Valverde cracked? How the hell did THAT happen?
One kilometer to go! Can Nibali grab the stage win from Majka? No. Nope. The Polish rider, in his first Tour, looks certain. But the action is behind him: Van Garderen is back there, and Frank Schleck, from whom we've heard almost nothing this race. All attacking each other.
Rafal Majka comes around the corner, looking behind him over and over again-- he doesn't even stop to zip up his jersey! But it doesn't matter: he's over the line alone. 24 years old, and he's got a Tour Stage win. Behind him, Nibali is pushing hard. The stage may be won, but he's going to fight for every second of increased lead. For a split second, it almost looks like Péraud might grab second, but nope. Nibali is having none of that. He takes second, and keep the Maillot Jaune easily. Joaquim Rodriguez grabs the King of the Mountains, now, and is actually tied with Rafal Majka.
Another day wherein the Alps are joyfully whacking the hell out of the race, and, of course, we have yet more of it tomorrow. Quite enjoyable!
If you're an assassin.