There is a saying amongst the riders when they reach the Pyrenees - "Le Tour commence aujourd'hui" ("The Tour starts today"), and they would be right. This is the reason I have been waiting so eagerly for the mountains in the Tour de France - it's where you get to separate the boys from the men, find out who is in good form and who's not, and you can finally tell who's serious about winning the Tour de France.
As expected on such as auspicious day there was a certain amount of chaos from people attacking, falling back, being caught and dropping off, but being the mountains there are only so many riders who can truly handle them, and it wasn't as hard as it sometimes is to keep track of who was where. The drama (and the television coverage!) started at 80 kilometres from the finish. As usual there was a breakaway out the front - this time it was Geraint Thomas from Team Sky leading it, Laurent Mangel from Saur-Sojasun, Blel Kadri of AG2R and Ruben Perez of Euskaltel-Euskadi, as well as Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Movistar) and Jeremy Roy (FDJ) for the umpteenth time, all seven or eight minutes ahead of the peloton.
Meanwhile the sprinters were gathering themselves up for the last goodbye - the final green jersey points before the mountains where they would be relegated to the autobus, the group of non-mountain-loving sprinters just trying to get over the finish before the elimination time. Though the highest points had already been taken the breakaway, the sprinters still took their chances, and it was really no surprise to anyone that it was Mark Cavendish who took the maximum remaining points, followed by teammates Gossie and Renshaw. The two picked up more points to increase the gap between Cav and his nearest rivals for the green jersey, Philippe Gilbert and Jose Joaquin Rojas, who followed the HTC boys across the line. After that it was the back of the pack and the autobus for these guys.
It was on the first climb of the day, the Category 1 Hourquette d'Ancizan, that the first move came. King of the Mountains Johnny Hoogerland, soon followed by first Sylvain Chavanel and then Roman Kreuziger, raced on ahead in the hopes of winning enough extra polka-dot jersey points to keep his hold on the KOM jersey. While Hoogerland soon reappeared in the peloton's radar, and even Chavanel eventually came home thanks to the relentless riding of the main bunch, Kreuziger went right off and was at one point within 30 seconds of the leading riders, though he never bridged the gap and fell off the back like all the rest as the climbs reached their steepest.
It was on the first climb of the day, the Category 1 Hourquette d'Ancizan, that the first move came. King of the Mountains Johnny Hoogerland, soon followed by first Sylvain Chavanel and then Roman Kreuziger, raced on ahead in the hopes of winning enough extra polka-dot jersey points to keep his hold on the KOM jersey. While Hoogerland soon reappeared in the peloton's radar, and even Chavanel eventually came home thanks to the relentless riding of the main bunch, Kreuziger went right off and was at one point within 30 seconds of the leading riders, though he never bridged the gap and fell off the back like all the rest as the climbs reached their steepest.
Out the front the lead group was collasping, as Geraint Thomas decided he was better off alone and made it happen. Thomas had been wearing the white jersey of the best young rider until the crash of team leader Brad Wiggins, where the team stopped to see if the injured Brit could continue and Thomas lost several minutes on his rivals. Jeremy Roy soon decided that he didn't like left behind and dragged himself up to form the leading pair, leading the race until part-way up Luz-Ardiden, the final hors-categorie (outside classification) climb of the day.
The peloton were having fun too. Geraint Thomas had earlier had problems on one of the corners - he braked, caused his back wheel to lock and went skidding off the side of the road on a downhill. Thankfully dodging between the parked cars and falling off his bike before the pair took the short cut down the mountain, he remounted and continued the descent, only to go skidding off the road again at the next corner! Swapping bikes (there was mud on his wheels from the first incident that caused the second one), Thomas continued the cautious descent, while team staff advised their riders to beware Thomas' issues. But at that self-same corner Thomas Voeckler also locked his back wheel and crashed gently into one of the parked cars, before turning his bike and heading downhill again. Other riders weren't so lucky, hitting the deck in the middle of the corner and forcing the peloton around them. No injuries more serious than scrapes and bruises, though.
The peloton continued up the first hors-categorie climb of the Col de Tourmalet, Leopard Trek setting a grueling pace, while two or three different breakaway groups formed and faded away, the only one that never came back being that of Olympic champion Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Omega Pharma-Lotto unknown Jelle Vanendert. The peloton slowly grew smaller up the climb, riders like Jens Voigt and Stuey O'Grady sacrificing themselves completely under orders from the Schleck brothers. By the time they were one-third of the way up Luz-Ardiden it had paid off. While Sanchez and Vanendert were still a minute or so ahead, the only other riders left were the Schlecks, Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Damiano Cunego, leader of Team Lampre, Ivan Basso and teammate Sylvester Smyzd, who was likewise ordered to pick up the pace, and yellow jersey-wearer Thomas Voeckler and teammate Pierre Rolland (Europcar). The octet paced each other up, watching for the moves, until Andy and Frank pulled the old one-two on the rest, Andy feinting before Frank pulled away and made a move. The second time Frank went none followed, so the Luxembourg national champion chased down the two leaders and finished just behind Jelle Vanendert, who didn't have the legs to beat Sanchez to the stage win. Meanwhile the other six, Sylvester Smyzd now having been dropped, continued on up to the high finish, and everyone was surprised to see Andy, Cadel and Basso round the corner without Contador, who eventually finish eight seconds behind.
The general classification is now in disarray, Thomas Voeckler with less of a gap after finishing 30 seconds behind Frank Schleck, who has now leapfrogged Cadel into second place thanks to his breakaway attempt. Contador, while now ahead of almost everyone else in the GC, is even further behind the riders who really matter - Frank, Andy, Cadel, and even Ivan and Damiano. Cavendish retains the green jersey, as does Voeckler his yellow, while Sanchez stole the King of the Mountains jersey at the top of Luz-Ardiden, and the white jersey is now being sported by young FDJ rider Arnold Jeannesson, who managed to follow the big names right up the mountain to finish in 13th place. Oddly enough, Jeannesson was only trying to improve himself in the general classification, and regarded the maillot blanc as a sort of extra benefit on the side!
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