|
Stage 10, July 12 -- Grenoble - Courchevel
The race starts today. After the rest day the day before, the race heads into the Alps. One thing to keep in mind is that the body frequently responds strangely when it gets a rest day after a week of hard racing, and sometimes doesnt like to get back into the race. When you put a mountain stage right after a rest day, things could get interesting. And they did.
We saw the power of Discovery today. Like I said, they dont race the Tour, they lay siege to it. We saw this today, with the whole team at the front driving a high pace almost from the start. Riders started falling off the back rapidly, and it makes things very difficult for riders to get away off the front. As things came to the final climb of the day, the race was reduced to an elite crowd of about 10 riders. Alexander Vinokourov fell off the back and eventually lost 5 minutes, leaving him practically out of the race for the overall. Jan Ullrich, chief challenger, soon dropped off the bike, followed by his teammate Kloeden, and they lost almost two minutes by the end. Basso was soon dropped as well. Soon, there were only four riders on the front--Armstrong, Rasmussen, who won stage 9, and Illes Baleares riders Alejandro Valverde and Francisco Mancebo. About 500m from the finish, Armstrong accelerated and jumped around the others, and only Valverde was able to follow. Just before the line, Valverde managed to come around Armstrong, taking the stage win, while Armstrong took back the yellow jersey.
The race was seriously shaken up on this stage. Everyone who was thought to be a challenger was essentially eliminated. We'll see who arises as chief rivals to Armstrong, because as of now, there arent any. He looks to be stronger than ever. Maybe Rasmussen?
__________________
"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato
|