One and a half casualties
Since Stage 16 had a downhill finish and is a day before Alpe d'Huez, the contenders weren't going to got for the kill. But that is quite a different thing from applying pressure to see if anyone is weak. Of the top 6, Christian VandeVelde finally showed weakness and was dropped on the last climb. Apparently he crashed on the decent too, and by the end of the day, it cost him 2:36. He's not dead & buried, but now that he's over 3 minutes off the lead, his chances of winning the Tour are slim to none.
The half a casualty was Menchov. He lost half a minute on the decent and is now at +1:13. Yeah, he's still close enough to win the Tour tomorrow, but that 30 seconds just made it a lot harder in a close race. Considering that Sastre still couldn't put time on the other contenders, he's still in a bit of a hole, so it's advantage to Frank Schleck, Cadel Evans, and Bernie Kohl.
Kohl, by the way, has managed to hang on to the KoM lead, despite being tied down to the yellow jersey group. Gerolsteiner helped him a lot by sending Schumacher to take points on the first climb.
Aside from the yellow jersey race, the white jersey race is getting really cool now. Andy Schleck has re-taken the lead because he's been at the front setting the pace for CSC day after day. He can't help but take the lead since his job is to set a pace that drops guys off the back. The two Liquigas guys, Nibali and Kreutzinger, are within a minute of his lead, and Monfort is only 2:18 back, so that race will be up for grabs on Alpe d'Huez too.
I still think Lotto is playing bad tactics by wasting Popovych. Sending him in an all day breakaway in the mountains only helps if he comes back to Evans once the race heats up. Well, that never happened, and Popovych didn't even win the stage, so his effort gained nothing and he got tired again. Think about that tomorrow when CSC drops him half way up the Alp.
And I've got to mention the crash by the Barloworld guy. That team's Tour has been a disaster, but John Augustyn won them 5000 euros by being the first guy over the highest peak in the Tour. He promptly crashed on the decent, and it was pretty awesome to watch. He need a spectator to help him climb up the slope back to the road, but his bike kept sliding down the mountain. I don't know if he ever got it back. He had to stand there and wait for the team car. At least he got 5ooo euros for his trouble.
The half a casualty was Menchov. He lost half a minute on the decent and is now at +1:13. Yeah, he's still close enough to win the Tour tomorrow, but that 30 seconds just made it a lot harder in a close race. Considering that Sastre still couldn't put time on the other contenders, he's still in a bit of a hole, so it's advantage to Frank Schleck, Cadel Evans, and Bernie Kohl.
Kohl, by the way, has managed to hang on to the KoM lead, despite being tied down to the yellow jersey group. Gerolsteiner helped him a lot by sending Schumacher to take points on the first climb.
Aside from the yellow jersey race, the white jersey race is getting really cool now. Andy Schleck has re-taken the lead because he's been at the front setting the pace for CSC day after day. He can't help but take the lead since his job is to set a pace that drops guys off the back. The two Liquigas guys, Nibali and Kreutzinger, are within a minute of his lead, and Monfort is only 2:18 back, so that race will be up for grabs on Alpe d'Huez too.
I still think Lotto is playing bad tactics by wasting Popovych. Sending him in an all day breakaway in the mountains only helps if he comes back to Evans once the race heats up. Well, that never happened, and Popovych didn't even win the stage, so his effort gained nothing and he got tired again. Think about that tomorrow when CSC drops him half way up the Alp.
And I've got to mention the crash by the Barloworld guy. That team's Tour has been a disaster, but John Augustyn won them 5000 euros by being the first guy over the highest peak in the Tour. He promptly crashed on the decent, and it was pretty awesome to watch. He need a spectator to help him climb up the slope back to the road, but his bike kept sliding down the mountain. I don't know if he ever got it back. He had to stand there and wait for the team car. At least he got 5ooo euros for his trouble.
posted by uberschuck at 10:41 AM
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