Stage 11: Landis, Menchov, Evans, Sastre
The pretenders are exposed and the contenders are apparent. The elite climbers at the end of stage 11 were Denis Menchov, Levi Leipheimer, Floyd Landis, Carlos Sastre, and Cadel Evans. These guys occupy 4 of the top 5 spots in GC and are within 2 minutes of each other. Leipheimer is almost 6 minutes back because of his crummy time trial last Saturday.
Rabobank: I didn’t know what to make of Menchov before the Tour started, but now it is clear. He thinks he can win, and his team thinks so too. Menchov was very strong and none of the attacks could shake him. Rabobank used Lance Armstrong’s tactics. They had Rasmussen and Boogerd deplete the field to just a few elite climbers. Michael Boogerd was outstanding at leading the elite climbers on the final climb—an outstanding effort.
Telekom: When Telekom started making pace on the penultimate climb the race changed. They put a ton of pressure on the field and dropped a lot of riders. For a moment, with three of them leading the pack, it looked like they were in charge of the Tour. It turned out to create a problem, as they were all spent by the time they got to the final climb. Why does Telekom make the mistake of attacking on the penultimate climb year after year? The good news for them is that Kloden is clearly their leader (although that might not be good for him). Kloden lost significant time to Landis. He’s down, but not out.
Discovery: Disco has no GC threat. The three big names all lived up to their drawbacks. Popovych looked like he’s still not ready to be a team leader. Savoldelli looked like a guy who peaked in May for the Giro. Hincapie looked like a domestique. Asevedo was best placed, but 4 minutes back. No one on this team is getting on the podium, so they should reconsider their goals and think about stage wins.
AG2r: They did an admirable job driving the peloton and Dessel showed a lot of guts defending his yellow jersey. Moreau is still riding well, though behind the contenders. This is their breakout Tour, and they’ve got reasons to be proud.
Sastre, Evans, and Leipheimer had no team support on the day, but it didn’t matter. Landis had none either, but now that he is in yellow, Phonak will be obliged to ride at the front. But Rabobank definitely has the personnel to control the race in the mountains, so we can expect to see them working for Menchov again in the Alps. Unless another team steps up for the pacemaking, the race could unfold with Rabobank whittling the field down for Menchov, leaving a small group of isolated team leaders to attach each other. That would be fun.
As for now, Landis is the man to beat. Menchov is his most important rival. Both have been great in the time trial and mountains. Cadel Evans is right behind Menchov and must be closely marked. He never attacks, which must keep his opponents guessing.
It appears I gave Iban Mayo too much credit when I predicted he would not abandon the race until stage 16. I was wrong; he decided to quit in front of the home crowd in stage 11.
Rabobank: I didn’t know what to make of Menchov before the Tour started, but now it is clear. He thinks he can win, and his team thinks so too. Menchov was very strong and none of the attacks could shake him. Rabobank used Lance Armstrong’s tactics. They had Rasmussen and Boogerd deplete the field to just a few elite climbers. Michael Boogerd was outstanding at leading the elite climbers on the final climb—an outstanding effort.
Telekom: When Telekom started making pace on the penultimate climb the race changed. They put a ton of pressure on the field and dropped a lot of riders. For a moment, with three of them leading the pack, it looked like they were in charge of the Tour. It turned out to create a problem, as they were all spent by the time they got to the final climb. Why does Telekom make the mistake of attacking on the penultimate climb year after year? The good news for them is that Kloden is clearly their leader (although that might not be good for him). Kloden lost significant time to Landis. He’s down, but not out.
Discovery: Disco has no GC threat. The three big names all lived up to their drawbacks. Popovych looked like he’s still not ready to be a team leader. Savoldelli looked like a guy who peaked in May for the Giro. Hincapie looked like a domestique. Asevedo was best placed, but 4 minutes back. No one on this team is getting on the podium, so they should reconsider their goals and think about stage wins.
AG2r: They did an admirable job driving the peloton and Dessel showed a lot of guts defending his yellow jersey. Moreau is still riding well, though behind the contenders. This is their breakout Tour, and they’ve got reasons to be proud.
Sastre, Evans, and Leipheimer had no team support on the day, but it didn’t matter. Landis had none either, but now that he is in yellow, Phonak will be obliged to ride at the front. But Rabobank definitely has the personnel to control the race in the mountains, so we can expect to see them working for Menchov again in the Alps. Unless another team steps up for the pacemaking, the race could unfold with Rabobank whittling the field down for Menchov, leaving a small group of isolated team leaders to attach each other. That would be fun.
As for now, Landis is the man to beat. Menchov is his most important rival. Both have been great in the time trial and mountains. Cadel Evans is right behind Menchov and must be closely marked. He never attacks, which must keep his opponents guessing.
It appears I gave Iban Mayo too much credit when I predicted he would not abandon the race until stage 16. I was wrong; he decided to quit in front of the home crowd in stage 11.
posted by uberschuck at 11:05 AM
1 Comments:
A terrific stage.
You also got a sense of pretenders by the time they cracked. The original group had 20 riders. Then two riders cracked early: Kesselr and Cunego.
Then, in the span of 2km starting at about 12km to race, the front group was pared down to seven. the riders dropped were:
Arroyo, Azevedo, Fothen, Moreau, Parra, Rasmussen, Rogers, Schleck, Simoni, Totschnig, Zubeldia.
Which left us with seven, who were then dropped in duos:
Boogerd and Kloden at 7km
Evans and Sastre at 3km
And then the final three rode together: Landis, Leipheimer, and Menchov.
That's a pretty good way to group the riders. OK, Boogerd being up there is a surprise, but otherwise, it works. Leipheimer has to be kicking himself for losing so much time in the ITT.
So, can Floyd just hold the lead until Paris?
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