A time trial usually provides some good variety in the middle of a three-week race. In this race,
though, a time trial becomes a battleground, a chance for one or other
of the favourites to stamp their authority on the yellow jersey. That’s
exactly what it became, the 41 kilometre 9th stage from Arc-et-Senans to
Besançon turning into a huge game of tug-o’-war as the world’s best
time triallists tugged on the advantage of the maillot jaune.
The early starters provided no real surprise, Vacansoleil’s Lieuwe Westra holding the early lead before it was claimed by World Time Trial Champion Tony Martin
(Omega Pharma-Quickstep). The German had another jinxed run, a flat
tyre ending his chances at a stage win, but still managing to top the
leaderboard in a time of 53’40”. Martin’s reign lasted until the ride
of four-time former World Time Trial Champion Fabian Cancellara (Radioshack-Nissan-Trek), who ousted his younger successor with a time 1’19” faster.
The locals of the département of Doubs were providing the
entertainment of the day with several Nazca Lines-style patterns carved
into the fields surrounding the race. A particularly elaborate one
featured one of the renowned local clocks as the rear wheel of a time
trial bike complete with rider, massive in comparison to the pro
cyclists passing along the road beneath. It wasn’t until the final two
and a half hours of racing that things really got exciting; the better
time triallists hitting the course in the final 30 riders. Riders like Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) and Denis Menchov
(Katusha) lived up to their reputations, putting in top 10
performances, while Radioshack’s riders filled in the gaps, with six
riders in the top 20.
The real surprise of the day came from Cadel Evans’ young American teammate, Tejay van Garderen
(BMC), who caused a stir when he raced through the first time check
three seconds ahead of Cancellara. The 23-year-old was still going
strong at the second time check, two seconds ahead of the dominant
Swiss, and managed to maintain enough of a lead to cross the line just
eight seconds behind ‘Spartacus’ and reclaim his white jersey from
Cofidis’ Rein Taaramae.
Naturally it was the last few riders of the day who generated the
most interest, the focus on the battle for yellow raging between Bradley Wiggins
(Sky) and Cadel Evans (BMC). Evans had more to worry about than just
the Briton in the yellow jersey, with Wiggins’ Sky teammate Chris Froome
posting a 23-second best time at the first time check. Evans was
unable to keep up, falling outside of the top 10 at the 16 kilometre
mark, but he found his rhythm in the second third of the race and placed
6th at the 31 kilometre time check.
It wasn’t going to be enough, though, Froome second at each time check and Wiggins dominating in 1st
place, over a minute ahead of the Tour de France defending champion.
Not only was Evans sacrificing precious seconds in the race for yellow,
but Froome was now jeopardising Evans’ hold on second place as well.
Though Evans managed to reach Besançon just 1’08” behind Froome, Wiggins
was showing why he’s known as a specialist in the discipline, storming
over the line in a stage-winning 51’24”, solidifying his lead on yellow.
The GC has been turned upside down yet again as the time triallists
are catapulted up the ranking, Wiggins still leading the classification
ahead of Evans at 1’53” and Froome at 2’07”. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Denis Menchov
round out the top 5. Tomorrow is a rest day before the race heads into
the mountains again, so watch the top 5 riders as well as riders like Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) and Team Radioshack-Nissan-Trek.
Cadel Evans in particular needs to make up time on Wiggins, so Stage 10
could be where we see if the Australian can seriously defend his title.
Showing posts with label Tony Martin. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tony Martin. Show all posts
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Stage 2: Visé – Tournai
It was a stage of injuries, of sprinters, of chateaux and long
breakaways, and a stage of rising above. Stage 2 of the 2012 Tour de
France from Visé to Tournai saw all the things we’ve come to expect from
the paramount race of the world – pain, triumph, inhuman achievement
and a gripping finish to keep us all guessing.
After the crashes and dramatic finish of yesterday’s stage into Seraing, the peloton started off slowly, savouring the beautiful panoramas and elegant cathedrals of central Belgium. It was 22 kilometres into the stage before Anthony Roux of FDJ-BigMat attempted a breakaway and was quickly joined by Europcar’s Christophe Kern and Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Michael Morkov, wearer of the polka-dot jersey after his participation in yesterday’s breakaway. The three rode rapidly away from the peloton to build up a lead that reached around eight minutes, Roux leaning on his handlebars as though for a time trial to avoid using his broken left hand, the result of one of yesterday’s crashes.
The young Frenchman wasn’t the only rider putting on a brave face for the stage. World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was also in considerable pain from a fractured scaphoid in his left hand which had caused temporary doubt as to whether he would start the stage. The German’s Tour de France certainly hadn’t improved, with a puncture in the prologue time trial preceding the Stage 1 crash which left him in a plastic brace.
The breakaway trio’s lead had dropped down to 6’15” as they passed through the city of Namur and began the climb up to the King of the Mountains point at the Côte de la Citadelle de Namur, a Roman-era fortress sitting at the top of the winding cobbles. Morkov dashed ahead of Kern and Roux to take the single point on offer, extending his lead over the polka-dot jersey competition to three points. Objective achieved, Morkov assumed a position at the back of the leading group and let the French pair do the work for the rest of the stage.
The gap quickly receding, the idle peloton realised they’d left it too late to catch the breakaway before the sprint point at Soignies, allowing Kern, Roux and Morkov respectively to take top points, and instead prepared to sprint for 4th place. The teams of the sprinters, already with a rider each at the front to do the pacemaking, sent up their leadout trains to contend for the vital green jersey points. Liquigas-Cannondale’s train was pulling for Peter Sagan, but Australian outfit Orica-GreenEDGE once again slipped sprinter Matthew Goss up the side to take the win ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Mark Cavendish (Sky).
Intermediate sprint aside, the race continued west across Belgium as the lead group’s advantage slowly ticked down. As the peloton loomed behind, Roux decided that the attitude of the day was ‘never say die’ and attacked again with 31 kilometres to go, an action that earned him the Combative Rider award for the day, while Kern and Morkov were swallowed up by the quickly-moving peloton and promptly spat out at the back end. As the pace increased, the hopeful teams of the sprinters moved to the front of the peloton for a second time and began preparing their sprint trains for the battle royale that was to be the stage finish.
At the rear of the peloton, though, Argos-Shimano’s sprinter Marcel Kittel was having trouble. While his team led the peloton charging towards Tournai, Kittel was falling off the back of the main field, his expression strained. Despite the help of teammates Kittel was unable to keep in touch any longer and dropped off, victim of a stomach bug, surrendering his chance at the day’s stage win.
The front of the peloton barely noticed his absence, flying towards the finish at nearly 70kph, scooping up the still-fighting Roux along the way. The key sprint teams of Liquigas-Cannondale, Lotto Belisol, Orica-GreenEDGE and Sky Procycling were jostling for position as King Albert II of Belgium, as keen a cycling fan as his countrymen, waited for the riders at the finish. Though Lotto Belisol appeared to have the win lined up neatly for Andre Greipel, Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan clinging to his back wheel, the aptly-named ‘Manx Missile’ of Mark Cavendish shot past Greipel to take his 21st Tour de France stage win, Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss again slipping up the side to take third.
The win has done little for the overall standings, Peter Sagan taking the green sprinter’s jersey the only change in the classifications. Tomorrow the Tour heads into northern France and more medium mountains, a newfound battleground for Sagan which may enable him to consolidate his lead on the maillot vert.
After the crashes and dramatic finish of yesterday’s stage into Seraing, the peloton started off slowly, savouring the beautiful panoramas and elegant cathedrals of central Belgium. It was 22 kilometres into the stage before Anthony Roux of FDJ-BigMat attempted a breakaway and was quickly joined by Europcar’s Christophe Kern and Saxobank-Tinkoff Bank’s Michael Morkov, wearer of the polka-dot jersey after his participation in yesterday’s breakaway. The three rode rapidly away from the peloton to build up a lead that reached around eight minutes, Roux leaning on his handlebars as though for a time trial to avoid using his broken left hand, the result of one of yesterday’s crashes.
The young Frenchman wasn’t the only rider putting on a brave face for the stage. World time trial champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-Quickstep) was also in considerable pain from a fractured scaphoid in his left hand which had caused temporary doubt as to whether he would start the stage. The German’s Tour de France certainly hadn’t improved, with a puncture in the prologue time trial preceding the Stage 1 crash which left him in a plastic brace.
The breakaway trio’s lead had dropped down to 6’15” as they passed through the city of Namur and began the climb up to the King of the Mountains point at the Côte de la Citadelle de Namur, a Roman-era fortress sitting at the top of the winding cobbles. Morkov dashed ahead of Kern and Roux to take the single point on offer, extending his lead over the polka-dot jersey competition to three points. Objective achieved, Morkov assumed a position at the back of the leading group and let the French pair do the work for the rest of the stage.
The gap quickly receding, the idle peloton realised they’d left it too late to catch the breakaway before the sprint point at Soignies, allowing Kern, Roux and Morkov respectively to take top points, and instead prepared to sprint for 4th place. The teams of the sprinters, already with a rider each at the front to do the pacemaking, sent up their leadout trains to contend for the vital green jersey points. Liquigas-Cannondale’s train was pulling for Peter Sagan, but Australian outfit Orica-GreenEDGE once again slipped sprinter Matthew Goss up the side to take the win ahead of Mark Renshaw (Rabobank) and Mark Cavendish (Sky).
Intermediate sprint aside, the race continued west across Belgium as the lead group’s advantage slowly ticked down. As the peloton loomed behind, Roux decided that the attitude of the day was ‘never say die’ and attacked again with 31 kilometres to go, an action that earned him the Combative Rider award for the day, while Kern and Morkov were swallowed up by the quickly-moving peloton and promptly spat out at the back end. As the pace increased, the hopeful teams of the sprinters moved to the front of the peloton for a second time and began preparing their sprint trains for the battle royale that was to be the stage finish.
At the rear of the peloton, though, Argos-Shimano’s sprinter Marcel Kittel was having trouble. While his team led the peloton charging towards Tournai, Kittel was falling off the back of the main field, his expression strained. Despite the help of teammates Kittel was unable to keep in touch any longer and dropped off, victim of a stomach bug, surrendering his chance at the day’s stage win.
The front of the peloton barely noticed his absence, flying towards the finish at nearly 70kph, scooping up the still-fighting Roux along the way. The key sprint teams of Liquigas-Cannondale, Lotto Belisol, Orica-GreenEDGE and Sky Procycling were jostling for position as King Albert II of Belgium, as keen a cycling fan as his countrymen, waited for the riders at the finish. Though Lotto Belisol appeared to have the win lined up neatly for Andre Greipel, Liquigas-Cannondale’s Peter Sagan clinging to his back wheel, the aptly-named ‘Manx Missile’ of Mark Cavendish shot past Greipel to take his 21st Tour de France stage win, Orica-GreenEDGE’s Matt Goss again slipping up the side to take third.
The win has done little for the overall standings, Peter Sagan taking the green sprinter’s jersey the only change in the classifications. Tomorrow the Tour heads into northern France and more medium mountains, a newfound battleground for Sagan which may enable him to consolidate his lead on the maillot vert.
Tuesday, 20 September 2011
Les Championnats du Monde: Copenhague 2011 (Contre-la-Montre)
À ce moment-là, j’espère que je sois à Copenhague. Après allant aux Championnats du Monde sur route à Geelong l’année dernière, cette année pendant les Championnats, Danemark est le lieu auquel être.
Cette année l’UCI a introduit une autre catégorie dans les Championnats – «Junior», plus cadet de l’âge de 18 ans. Et la première année est une bonne année pour Australie – Jessica Allen de l’Australie a gagné la médaille d’or, dans un temps de 8:56:00 (Grande-Bretagne et Allemagne se sont placés deuxième et troisième). Le contre-la-montre des femmes élites était intéressant – les vainqueurs n’ont pas changé de l’année dernière! Allemande Judith Arndt, qui s’est placée deuxième l’année dernière, a gagné la course, et Nouvelle-Zélandaise Linda Melanie Villumsen et Britannique Emma Pooley (troisième et première respectivement l’année dernière) se sont placées deuxième et troisième cette année.
Les résultats des hommes juniors n’étaient pas très révélateur, mais un autre bon résultat pour les antipodes – James Oram de Nouvelle-Zélande s’est placé deuxième et David Edwards d’Australie s’est placé troisième. Les hommes moins de 23 ans aussi – Michael Hepburn de Brisbane, Australie, a gagné le bronze, mais le nom plus fameux est celui du vainqueur, Luke Durbridge. Le porteur de la médaille d’or a gagné l’argent l’année dernière. Mais il y a une surprise pour les fans danois aussi: Rasmus Christian Quaade de Valby, sud-ouest Danemark, s’est placé deuxième (et a gagné le médaille d’argent).
Bien sûr, la course la plus intéressante (et la plus prévisible) était les hommes élites. En effet, les premiers huit coureurs ont couru le Tour de France cette année, et la plupart de ceux sont connus pour les contre-la-montres. Britannique coureur contre-la-montre Bradley Wiggins a fait la course avec un temps de 54:59:68. Mais ce n’était pas assez pour gagner l’or, après Tony Martin (d’Allemagne) s’est placé première à tout les splits intermédiaire et a fini avec un temps de 53:42:85, 1:15 plus vite que Brad Wiggins. Même Fabian Cancellara, championnat du monde contre-la-montre quatre fois, n’a pas pu le battre, se plaçant troisième. Ce n’était pas une surprise, car Cancellara n’avait pas été très fort récemment et Martin est devenu très bien en les deux ou trois ans précédant. Regarde-le dans l’avenir!
Cette année l’UCI a introduit une autre catégorie dans les Championnats – «Junior», plus cadet de l’âge de 18 ans. Et la première année est une bonne année pour Australie – Jessica Allen de l’Australie a gagné la médaille d’or, dans un temps de 8:56:00 (Grande-Bretagne et Allemagne se sont placés deuxième et troisième). Le contre-la-montre des femmes élites était intéressant – les vainqueurs n’ont pas changé de l’année dernière! Allemande Judith Arndt, qui s’est placée deuxième l’année dernière, a gagné la course, et Nouvelle-Zélandaise Linda Melanie Villumsen et Britannique Emma Pooley (troisième et première respectivement l’année dernière) se sont placées deuxième et troisième cette année.
Les résultats des hommes juniors n’étaient pas très révélateur, mais un autre bon résultat pour les antipodes – James Oram de Nouvelle-Zélande s’est placé deuxième et David Edwards d’Australie s’est placé troisième. Les hommes moins de 23 ans aussi – Michael Hepburn de Brisbane, Australie, a gagné le bronze, mais le nom plus fameux est celui du vainqueur, Luke Durbridge. Le porteur de la médaille d’or a gagné l’argent l’année dernière. Mais il y a une surprise pour les fans danois aussi: Rasmus Christian Quaade de Valby, sud-ouest Danemark, s’est placé deuxième (et a gagné le médaille d’argent).
Bien sûr, la course la plus intéressante (et la plus prévisible) était les hommes élites. En effet, les premiers huit coureurs ont couru le Tour de France cette année, et la plupart de ceux sont connus pour les contre-la-montres. Britannique coureur contre-la-montre Bradley Wiggins a fait la course avec un temps de 54:59:68. Mais ce n’était pas assez pour gagner l’or, après Tony Martin (d’Allemagne) s’est placé première à tout les splits intermédiaire et a fini avec un temps de 53:42:85, 1:15 plus vite que Brad Wiggins. Même Fabian Cancellara, championnat du monde contre-la-montre quatre fois, n’a pas pu le battre, se plaçant troisième. Ce n’était pas une surprise, car Cancellara n’avait pas été très fort récemment et Martin est devenu très bien en les deux ou trois ans précédant. Regarde-le dans l’avenir!
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