Its the 20th anniversary since I first rode the l'Alpe d'Huez during the Tour de France. Today was my eighth ascent since that memorable ride up cycling's unoficial monument to climbing on a bike. The Alpe isn't the most beautiful climb, it isn't the most difficult time, but there is a curious amalgamation of history, location and those 21 pesky switchbacks that all mix together to create the most unique experience in cycling.

On every cyclists bucket list should be to climb the Alpe on the day of the Tour. Unless you have climbed the Alpe on a day when common sense and judgment are replaced by wanton craziness, you haven't experienced the full effect. It is nothing short of sheer madness and only those who can let down their guard and join in the celebration will fully enjoy all that is the Alpe on Tour day. The 8-mile, 3700' climb is difficult, especially the first two miles, but if you can get into the spirit of the day, you are almost carried uphill by the cheering fans and all the fanfare that awaits you around each corner.

Turn number 7 is appropriately named Holland corner because each year the Dutch set up a mini-village on both sides of the road and the fun and games go on for days before the Tour passes through.  On race day, a corridor of orange-clad fans greet and cheer all cyclists and if you happen to be wearing the orange and blue of the home team, Rabobank, a hundred hands will appear to push you closer to the summit amidst deafening cheers.

I remember back in the early 90's when the Dutch called turn number 1 their home turf and set up shop for their beloved climbing ace Gert-Jan Thuenisse who won solo on the Alpe in 1989 and in doing so created a living legend for the Hollanders. Their chants of Theunisse's name went on, unabated, for 24 hours before his arrival and probably just as long after he had ridden past. But, the party has now moved down the mountain to a much better location for the festivities.

Every year, the Alpe seems to sprout more road graffiti for the current hot favorite. There were very few signs for Luxembourger Frank Schleck when he won on the Alpe in 2006. This year, his name, and that of his brother Andy's, are plastered all up and down the climb and Luxembourg flags are everywhere. One can only imagine how many residents of that country of only 450,000 people are on the slopes of the Alpe.  There is a distinct possibility that the tiny country is empty!

Bruce

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Race Notes

What's up with all the crashing on descents? You have to feel for Garmin-Chipotle rider Christian Vandevelde, after getting dropped with about 5 miles to go on the Bonnette, he limited his losses to only 30 seconds at top then crashed on the descent to Jausiers and lost another two minutes to the leaders. Christian is a very good descender, but when you are dropped and the yellow jersey or a podium place is on the line, sometimes you feel you need to take risks on the descent to make up time. It is an awful position to be in, and sometimes, as happened yesterday, a bad situation becomes worse.

On today's stage to l'Alpe d'Huez no fewer than four of the Team Columbia's riders hit the pavement. Again, these guys are very good descenders, but sometimes mistakes happen.

Team CSC Saxo Bank continues to put on a racing clinic. Buy the book and the DVD! To see Fabian Cancellara drive the leaders up the second to last climb, the Croix de Fer, and drop a bunch of noted climbers was nothing short of incredible. The fact that he chased back on on the descent so he could continue to drive it to the base of l'Alpe d'Huez was simply beyond words.  I want that guy and Jens Voigt on my team, big time.

The final climb to the summit of the Alpe d'Huez was some of the best mano y mano bike racing we have seen in the Tour in years.  Team CSC Saxo Bank pulled an incredible sleight of hand.  While everyone was watching the Schlecks and expecting the team to defend the yellow jersey, they sent their best time trialist up the road in an attempt to carve out enough time on Cadel Evans to keep the maillot Jaune all the way to a Paris.  That move was clear when CSC pulled their lead team car from behind the Schlecks and took it up to Carlos.

Evans appeared to not realize what was happening until the final 4km when he was forced to go to the front and try to peg back time on Sastre.  In the end, Sastre has 1'30" over Evans which is probably not enough to keep yellow, but will probably put him on his first ever podium at the Tour.

Vandevelde recovered brilliantly from all the drama of yesterday's stage and was clearly in the mix and not just hanging on for dear life on the ascent to the Alpe.  He is totally capable of uncorking a big effort in the final 50km time trial and climbing onto the podium.  Chapeau!

In his post race interview with the press Carlos Sastre said that the team was originally going to start driving the pace on the Col du Galibier but decided to wait until the Croix de Fer because there was a big headwind on the Galibier.

Regarding his attack at the base of the Alpe, he said he decided to attack from the start as everyone was tired from the efforts of the team over the Croix de Fer.  He wanted to go early on the climb so the others would not be in a good rythmn and he wanted to surprise them as quickly as possible.

When asked if he thinks his 1'30" advantage is enough to hold off Cadel Evans he replied that for now, he just wants to celebrate the yellow jersey with his team and enjoy the moment. He will worry about the time trial later.

Team CSC-Saxo Bank gave everyone a primer in bike racing 101 and setup one of the most exciting finale's in recent Tour history. With only two climbs, albeit big ones, on the menu, Bjarne Riis' boys managed to coax their two biggest engines over the monstrous Col du Tourmalet in the lead group of 25 riders the result being that it was game on for all the contenders at the base of Huatacam, the 8-mile, 3700' climb to the finish. And when pre-race favorites Alejandro Valverde and Damiano Cunego were dropped on the Tourmalet, the spearhead by CSC not only reeled in the early breakaways, but put an insurmountable 3 minute gap on the Spaniard and Italian virtually eliminating from overall contention.

Team CSC had three contenders, Carlos Sastre, Frank Schleck and Andy Schleck, in the lead group and when the ascent of Huatacam was underway, they all took their chance with Frank's surge providing the winning move. Two Scott-Saunier Duval riders Leonardo Piepoli and Jose Cobo Acebo came along to duke it out for the stage win, but it was Schleck who stood to gain the most with the yellow jersey in the balance.

The chasers included Cadel Evans, Denis Menchov, Carlos Sastre, Riccardo Rico and Christian Vandevelde, a formidable group from which the Tour podium in Paris will undoubtedly be filled. Evans, who as the heavy pre-race favorite, had the most to lose did not respond. He can put minutes into Schleck in the final 50km time trial so there was no urgent reason to chase. In the end, that group stayed together and while Schleck finished about 1:49' ahead of Evans, he missed the yellow by a scant second.

Not to be a homer, but I was most inpressed with the ride of Gamin-Cbipotle rider Christian Vandevelde. He held onto his third place overall with a gutty ride that at times had him on the ropes only to see him claw back the Evans group. Before the start of the stage, his team director, Jonathan Vaughters, remarked,"this is the crux day of the Tour for Christian. He always rides stronger in the third week of a grand tour and you know he will do well in the final time trial."

Team Garmin-Chipotle power guru, Dr. Allen Lim was asked, after Christian came up short in the big mountains of the Giro, how would he fair in the big mountains of the Tour. "We used the Giro only for training. It was hard enough that just riding it for training was very hard."

What a great day for the Tour and all the contenders. Frank Schleck has finally begun to fulfill the potential he demonstrated when he won the l'Alpe d'Huez stage in 2006. Cadel Evans dons his first ever yellow jersey, and Christian Vandevelde emerges from his role as domestique to prove that he is a true team leader who can deliver in the time trials and also the mountains.

Bruce

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Race Notes

I talked with yellow jersey wearer and Team Columbia rider Kim Kirchen before the start. I asked him what was the difference between his climbing in the Tour of Switzerland when he struggled in the high mountains and his performance in the Tour, where he finished with the lead group on Stage 9 over the Peyersourde and Aspin and retained the jersey. "I had a bit if trouble on the climbs yesterday but, today(Stage 10) are the real big climbs. We will see how I do today," he replied candidly.

For those of you into power and performance numbers, I chatted with Dr. Allen Lim about the fantastic climbing performance by Riccardo Ricco on Stage 9. Dr. Lim noted that Ricco was climbing at around 6.5 watts/kg, very close to Lance Armstrong's legendary 6.7 watts/kg, while the rest of the leaders were at abot 6.0 watts/kg. That's almost a 10% difference. Ricco's Vertical Ascent in Meters per Hour(VAM) was about 1790M(5950') while the leaders chasing him were at 1650M(5500'). Wow!

In the post-stage press conference, Cadel was asked how his horrific crash on yesterday's stage affected his performance today. He basically said that he has some bruising and swelling, but the team doctor has worked with him for years and got him ready to ride after which his team did an good job of delivering him to the final climb.

Cadel acknowledged that he doesn't have the strongest team in the race and when it comes to deciding how to defend the yellow jersey, the team would have to do some strategizing on the first rest day to figure out what to do.

Obviously, we all have our own conditions for calling an event a great race; the recently concluded Giro d'Italia had all the trimmings to make one exceptional race. To be sure, Team Astana's Alberto Contador took the top overall honors, but his fellow competitors forced the outcome to be decided on the final day of the 21-day grand tour.

Lance Armstrong won seven Tours de France, but which one was his "best" victory? Was it the times where the Texas Tornado appeared unbeatable and seemed to just be toying with his rivals? For me it was 2003 when he almost got dropped on Alpe d'Huez, lost to Ullrich in the first time trial and then crashed on Luz Ardiden. Lance looked totally vulnerable and it came down to the final time trial to settle the score.

For me, it is great competition which makes a memorable race. This year at the Giro, going into the final mountain stage, three day before the end of the race, the top three competitors were separated by only 21 seconds. And, all three were bonafide contenders. But, more importantly, all three had looked vulnerable at one time or another.

Leader Alberto Contador had been unable to respond to late stage attacks on both the Alpe de Pampeago and the Marmolada. But, as a true champion does, he didn't just sit up, he rode his own pace and limited his losses. Only four seconds back, Saunier Duval's Ricardo Ricco, lost over two minutes to Contador in the first time trial. He clearly had to make up that deficit in the mountains and his relentless attacks were successful in pegging back critical seconds. Third place Danilo DiLuca, the 2007 Giro champion, had been riding quietly in the lead group, but had not shown any traces of last year's form. His attack on the second-to-last day in the mountains almost put him in the maglia rosa, the pink leader's jersey.

In the end, Contador's consistency in the mountains and his superior time trialing skills neutralized Ricco while DiLuca's audacious attack on the second-to-last mountain stage proved to be too much too soon and he was never able to recover for the final weekend of racing.

Which brings us to the upcoming Tour de France. While Cadel Evans may be the odds-on favorite, his recent knee troubles have limited his pre-Tour training program. Chris Horner likes two-time Vuelta a Espana winner Dennis Menchov. Somewhere lurking in the mountains is Alejandro Valverde. Suffice it to say, there really is no clear favorite and all the top contenders have shown signs of vulnerability in the Tour in the past. Of course, that means it's going to be a great race.

Bruce