Translated material
High mountain limit
Sprinters and time trialists have one stage left to endure
The peloton of the Tour de France, the most prestigious stage race on the world calendar, yesterday had the opportunity to rest before tackling the final third of the route. Today the participants of the Great Loop say goodbye to the Pyrenees Mountains on the most difficult stage, 50 km of which will pass through the territory of the Spanish province of Navarre. In the meantime, experts vied with each other to discuss the miraculous transformation of Alexander Vinokurov. After Sunday’s failure and lagging behind the stage winner by almost half an hour, which finally put an end to the Kazakhstani’s hopes of winning in the overall classification, he gritted his teeth and went on principle and on Monday won a victory on a route with an assault on five peaks of the second, first and highest difficulty categories.“I had a lot of motivation at this stage,” said Vinokurov. “I wanted to prove to everyone that it’s too early to write me off as a serious contender.” I also wanted to instill confidence in my Astana teammates. After Sunday, the guys were not in the best mood. Of course, everyone in Astana was getting ready to fight for my final victory and expected that the finish on the Champs Elysees in Paris on the last day of the Tour should be a triumph for the team. But my fall in the first week of the race ruined these plans. I have made great efforts to recover from numerous injuries and damages, but this is life and I have nothing to blame myself for. On Sunday I couldn't stay in the yellow jersey group, it was a very bad day. Something clicked in my head and I realized that my ambitions to win the Tour de France were over. At the 15th stage I managed to rehabilitate myself, I took revenge on myself and now I will help my teammate Andreas Kloden in every possible way. The German is now the best from Astana in the general classification, and he has a chance to become the winner of the Tour or enter the top three.”
Vinokurov made it clear that Astana's goal for the 16th stage is a victorious finish on Obiski Peak (1709 m above sea level). In principle, success will be understood not so much as the victory of the German Kloden, but as the time spent behind the yellow jersey holder Michael Rasmussen from Rabobank. Andreas is still losing to him for 5 minutes. 34 sec. and takes fifth place. The Dane's closest pursuer is Alberto Contador, representing the Discovery Channel cycling group, for which seven-time Great Loop winner Lance Armstrong competed. The 24-year-old Spaniard's deficit is 2 min. 23 seconds, followed by the Lotto leader, Australian Cadel Evans (4.00) and another Discovery racer, American Levi Leipheimer (5.25).
The French really don't want Armstrong's cause to live and win. Therefore, the local public cheers for anyone, but not for the cyclists from the American team. On Wednesday, the peloton will make its way through crowds of exalted Basconian cycling fans, and the rider of the only mononational team at the Tour, Euskaltel-Euskadi, Aimar Zubeldia, will receive enormous support. He is still in seventh place and is 7 minutes behind Rasmussen. 27 seconds.
It is obvious that in the coming days a serious struggle will unfold between Rabobank and Discovery Channel. On Monday, Denis Menshov, who was leading, had to slow down and wait for the Dane in the interests of the team, helping him not to lose sight of Contador. As a result, the Spaniard and Rasmussen finished at the same time. The overall outcome of the fight between the two favorites for the right to take home the yellow jersey will largely depend on the coordination of the support groups’ actions. Unless, of course, Clauden or Evans intervene in their dispute.
If no significant changes in the general classification occur on Wednesday evening, the outcome should be expected at the Saturday race with a time trial. After all, on Thursday and Friday the “unloading” flat stages will take place, and the sprinters, pretty battered in the mountains, will perk up - the owner of the green jersey of the most active racer, Belgian Tom Boonen, South African Robert Hunter, and German Eric Zabel, who has been waiting for his anniversary, 200th victory in professional racing , Italian Daniele Bennati and other finishers.
An individual time trial had already taken place at the Tour in the vicinity of Albi last Saturday, but unlike the upcoming flat trial, it had a more complex profile, which was quite suitable for Rasmussen. Experts predict that Rasmussen's losses at a distance of 56 km between the town of Cognac, which gave its name to the famous strong alcoholic drink, and the city of Anjoules could be not a minute, not two, but much more. The last 20 riders, starting in reverse order of the overall standings, will start the course at three-minute intervals. Rasmussen will be informed about his competitors' times as the race progresses, but this is unlikely to make it any easier for him.
It makes sense to look at how the main contenders for victory in the current Tour performed trials with a similar profile in the past. A year ago, on the seventh stage of the “Big Loop” at 52 km, Rasmussen lost to Kloden by 4 minutes. 46 seconds, and Contador at the time was a Liberty Seguros rider who had been excluded from the Tour due to doping revelations. A week and a half later, at a distance of 57 km, the Dane lost to the German by more than 8 minutes, and to Evans by 5 minutes. 10 sec. Therefore, the current leadership of the Rabobank racer can be considered very precarious. He needs to strengthen his advantage at this stage.