After Christian Vande Velde's fourth place finish in the 2008 Tour, much was expected from the team leader of the Garmin-Slipstream squad. Then he had a very serious crash in the Giro and everything changed. A so-so performance in the pre-Tour warm up, the Tour of Switzerland, was a cause for concern.  But, as the Tour left the Pyrenees, those concerns appear to be unfounded as Vande Velde was climbing well with all the the heavy hitters. I talked with him after the first mountain stage to see what's up.

Christian admitted that he was beat up pretty badly after the crash and had a slow recovery.  "I was kind of in denial of how bad I really was," said Vande Velde noting that he tried to come back too early and had to take three to four days off as a result.

There is no place to hide at the Tour. How did Vande Velde feel going into the race?  "It has been stressful these last couple of weeks leading up to the Tour not knowing where I stand and what's going on(with my conditioning)," said Vande Velde. But, Christian rode well in the opening time trial, the team time trial and the first mountain stage adding that he 'felt great' on he final slopes of Arcalis. 

Last year, Christian only had Ryder Hesjedal in the mountains and that was only on one, albeit, critical stage.  This year, Olympic Gold Medalist, Bradley Wiggins has come over from Columbia-Highroad. Wiggins lost a reported nine pounds to be lighter to help Vande Velde in the mountains. Vande Velde see a lot of similarities to his situation last year. "He (Bradley) has no idea what he can and cannot do.  He could definitely have attacked more today.  It is just going to be a process of him knowing his body."

Christian wasn't sure exactly what the Garmin-Slipstream team could do to take on the super-powerful Astana team. On the climb to Arcalis, there were four Astana riders in the lead group and Contador was off the front. "They didn't even go at full guns today so I don't know," said Vande Velde.

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Tomorrow's stage 10 and Friday's stage 13 will be unique in that the Tour organizers are banning the riders and their team directors from using radios. The radios have been in use since 1993 when Team Motorola introduced the Peloton Communication System (PCS). Back then, I wrote that I didn't like the radios and received some interesting comments back from the folks at Motorola. But, regardless of my protestations, the radios were here to stay and are now a critical part of a team's equipment.

Those in favor of the radios say that they increase the safety of the riders by first, warning them of dangerous situations up the road, and secondly, eliminating the need for riders to drop back to the team cars to talk to their directors.

Those opposed say that race radios turn the riders into nothing more than robots who obey every command given to them by their directors. This has made the racing boring and predictable. Do you ever wonder why the peloton almost always seems to catch the breakaway at the last possible moment?

What is interesting is that while most team directors support radios (well, duh), the riders seem to be split on the issue both sides citing the concerns noted above.

On Monday, at the Tour's first rest day, the teams were supposed to meet to decide what to do about the ban. Clearly, many team directors see it as a safety issue and believe that banning radios put their riders at risk. Fourteen of the twenty teams present at the Tour have signed a petition opposing the ban and there is a rumour of a rider strike at the stage start on Tuesday.

Personally, I am still opposed to race radios. The riders have to drop back to the team cars to get bottles and they don't seem to be crashing right and left. If the gendarmes do their job, upcoming road hazards should be handled properly.

I remember the days when it wasn't just power output, but one's ability to read a race that was considered an asset. However, being a realist, I realize that radios have become so integrated into the team's strategy and tactics that it will take a real paradigm shift to go back to the old ways. There is no doubt the racing would get more exciting without the radios.

Here's another suggestion to increase the excitement of the big races. Include some big dirt climbs like the Col du Grand Parpaillon and the Col de la Moutiere near Jausiers and the Col du Areche near Aime in the Alps. In the Pyrenees, you can climb another four miles and 1200' on a good dirt road from the top of the Col du Tourmalet. The Giro has included a few dirt roads in its race, how about the Tour?

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Mark Cavendish has a unique decal on his bikes. Here is a picture of the decal on his road bike.

Here is the decal on his time trial bike.

The Garmin-Slipstream team announced its 9-man roster for the Tour de France.  Not surprisingly, Christian Vande Velde will lead the squad.  He finished fourth last year and looked very good doing it.  The only question will be can he regain the fitness necessary to be competitive after a serious crash in the opening stages of the Giro? Recently, at the Tour de Suisse (Tour of Switzerland) he looked like he is on the way back, but there is some more fitness needed to contend for the overall. Luckily, Christian knows how to make it happen.

The team will also include Bradley Wiggins who came within one second of winning the final TT at the Giro. Besides being counted on to place highly in the time trials he has lost a reported 9 pounds(4 kilos) and will be a key support role for Vande Velde in the mountains.  The multi-Olympic gold medalist will also be part of the leadout train for Tyler Farrar.  Bradley will be earning his money at the Tour.

David Millar and Dave Zabriskie are included on the team for their time trialing abilities. The team time trial on stage 4 is a goal for the squad and they have the horsepower to win it. Also, look for Millar to go for stage wins in a small breakaway on the flatter stages.

Ryder Hesjedal and Dan Martin are included for their climbing abilities and to support Christian in the mountains. Ryder played a key role in the Alps at the 2008 Tour and Dan Martin is one of the up and coming stars in the pro peloton with some outstanding performances in hilly stage races last year and this spring.

Tyler Farrar was one of the revelations of the Giro.  He sprinted to several second place finishes behind Mark Cavendish. While he didn't get a stage win, he showed that he was ready to mix it up in the finale and had no fear in doing it. He could definitely win a stage of the Tour.

Julian Dean is the final cog, after Bradley Wiggins, of the Farrar leadout train. Look for Wiggins to go from 1km to about 600m with Julian taking it from there to about 200m. This train, which was new for the Giro, had lots of practice in Italy and is ready to launch.

Danny Pate also has immense time trialing skills, but as he proved on the stage to Prato Nevoso in last year's Tour he can sense an opportunity for a stage win and go for it. He was oh so close last year.

The Garmin-Slipstream team is a well-balanced squad that includes riders for all the tasks necessary to be competitive in the mountains, flats and time trials. Good luck boys!

Bruce

What can you say about the ride of Carlos Sastre? When he needed to put it all together and defend the yellow jersey he did just that. Teammate Jens Voigt described Carlos as a 'peaceful warrior' and that is exactly what we saw. Unlike his pursuer Evans, who was all over his bike, mouth agape, searching for speed, Sastre seemed to be at ease and pedaled smoothly to keep the maillot jaune. It was a graceful show of strength and class and Carlos will ride into Paris a very deserved winner of the 2008 Tour de France.

Clearly, Cadel Evans did not have his best time trial. As all my fellow journalists spent the past several days reminding their readers, on paper, Evans had the cred to not only take the yellow jersey, but to also win the final time trial. Maybe it was fatigue, maybe it was nerves, but the Australian finds himself on the same step of the podium as last year. For many, this will be viewed as a failure, however, this was an extremely open Tour with a lot of attacks from a number of contenders. Maybe if Evans had attacked sometime during the Tour he would have found that extra minute, but he seemed to be content to follow and not lead banking on his prowess in the time trial which failed him in the end.

It is fitting that the rider who launched the biggest attack on the biggest climb should win the Tour. And it is also fitting that the team who schooled everyone in both the Pyrenees and the Alps should have the yellow jersey. Carlos and his team CSC Saxo Bank put on a racing clinic in the final two weeks.  Look for Bjarne Riis coming to you soon in a late night infomercial.  Buy the book and the DVD.  Unlike all the other get rich quick schemes on TV, it will be worth it.

I just have to remind you all that I predicted that Sastre could hang on to the yellow jersey in the time trial citing the power of the yellow jersey and giving the Floyd Landis/Oscar Pereiro dual in 2006 when Floyd took over 4 minutes out of Pereiro in the first time trial, but when the yellow jersey was on the line could only manage a little over a minute in the finial time trial. I am by no means taking credit for Sastre's ride, but it just goes to show that sometimes statistics and calculators don't count for much, especially when the yellow jersey is on the line. As Obe Won once said "the power of the yellow is strong."

Bruce

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race notes

Chrsitian Vandevelde rode exceptionally well, finishing fourth in the TT and moving up to 5th overall. Save for the day to Jausiers in the Alps where he lost 2'30" he would be on the podium in Paris. It just goes to show that you can't have a bad day at the Tour on a critical stage and expect to be on the podium.  Having said that, this is an incredible result for Christian and his Garmin-Chipotle team. As I said in an earlier blog (titled Christian Vandevelde) he has toiled as a domestique for many, many years and it is great to see him step from the shadows and become a bonafide grand tour contender. The boys at Garmin-Chipotle have more than enough reason to pop the champagne.  Chapeau Christian!

How about the rest of the Garmin-Chipotle team in the final time trial.  With Millar (3rd), Vandevelde(4th) and Ryder Hesjedal(13th) and Danny Pate(14th) in the top 15 these guys rocked!  To be able to perform at that level in the third week of the Tour shows these guys are the real deal and totally deserved to be here. And those guys have also finished the Giro as well! Double chapeau!

During the time trial there was a camera and microphone in the Silence Lotto car following Cadel.  Evans was getting a lot of information from his team director as to which side of the road was the most advantageous for the wind, reminders of upcoming tricky corners, etc. I am guessing that the riders on the other teams get the same information which helps them go as fast and safely as possible.

Can the Schleck brothers improve their time trialing or will this be their achilles heal?  The two Luxembourgers rode so well in the mountains it is a shame that their time trialing abilities are so disparate with their climbing.  If they were diminutive Spanish climbers I could understand why they come up short. On the other hand, Carlos Sastre is one of those smallish Spaniards.  Hopefully, somebody can figure it out and make them faster.

Bernhard Kohl rode the time trial of his life to get the third step on the podium. It was an inspired ride and one that just might signal the arrival of another bonafide contender for the Tour. BTW, his Gerlosteiner team is disbanding at the end of the year. I hope Bernhard has an agent!

I hear word that a German-based super team is in the works.  Both Kohl and his teammate double time trial winner, Stefan Schumacher, are good candidates for that squad, though Kohl is actually Austrian.

Team Columbia rider George Hincapie also deserves special mention. George crashed badly on the Galibier a few days ago and was sporting some really awful looking road rash on both his left arm and leg. He has been soldiering on toward Paris on a day-by-day basis.  He finished 10th in the time trial to go with his other top 10 in the first time trial. He is one tough (and fast) dude.

One thing I have learned from my many years as a journalist is that, especially at the start and finish of race stages, I should only ask a few questions and the total interview should be around a minute. This is for several reasons. First off, there are other journalists who also want to talk to the riders. If I tie up a rider for five minutes, when time is really critical, not only do I keep other journalists from getting their story, but I risk having competing journalists evesdrop on my interview and then I loose a bit of exclusivity. So to be fair and to keep my interview as exclusive as possible I get and get out and let others do their work as well.

The second reason is that these riders have a job to do. Yes, they need to make themselves available to the press, but before or after race stages when chaos and anxiety are at critical levels is not the place to start asking about career goals and how they feel about the war in Iraq. So, out of courtesy, I try to keep it short and simple.

Today at the sign in for the stage from Bourg d'Oisans to St. Etienne I talked to a bunch of the riders who have been lighting it up in the Alps.

Carlos Sastre rolled up in his first day in yellow. BTW, Sastre's time for the ascent of the l'Alpe d'Huez was 39'29" for an average speed of 13 miles per hour.

Jens Voigt has done just about everything in this Tour from pacesetting at the front to climbing to initiating breakaways to super-domestique in the mountains. I asked him if is there is anything he cannot do. "I am really shite on a rainy descent. That's the only thing where I am absolutely hopeless. Apart from that I think I am doing well."

Jens was asked to describe his teammate Carlos Sastre. "He is just a peaceful warrior. He's hard when it comes to it(racing), but he is friendly and loyal. He gives a lot to the team so that is why everyone wants to help him."

Austrian Bernard Kohl of the Gerlosteiner squad will wear the polka-dot jersey into Paris. I asked him about what it was like on the Alpe, where he finished in the lead chasing group and sits third overall 1'34 seconds behind Sastre and one second behind Cadel Evans. "Yeah, it was really hard. It was the hardest stage in the Alps and after two and a half weeks of racing and after 200 kilometers (on that day) the race was really hard."

Who was he keying off of on the Alpe? "I had to look for Cadel Evans. He needed to keep the gap from getting too big for the time trial." Can Kohl defend his podium position or even move up a place or two in the final time trial? "No, I am not really the time trialer like Cadel Evans or Denis Menchov. I am a climber. I will try my best in the time trial and we will see."

Kohl's Gerlosteiner teammate, winner of the first time trial and former wearer of the yellow jersey, Stefan Schumacher, was especially active in the Alps with long breakaways on the stage to Jausiers and also to the Alpe. I asked him if he was trying to make up for his sub-par performance in the Pyrenees. "Yeah, in the Pyrenees I was not so good, but now I have a lot of time(he was way down on GC) so I tried. Also, it was important for the team to ride an offensive race and work for the mountains jersey. Bernard had the jersey and I controlled it at the front."

Danny Pate was in the lead breakway on the stage to Prato Nevoso and in a position to snag Team Garmin-Chipotle's first Tour stage win. I asked him who he was watching on the climb to the finish. "I was just watching the Euskatel guy(Egoi Martinez) because he seemed like the best guy." Both Pate's and teammate Will Frischkorn's breakway moves were big pluses for the squad and proved their worth in the Tour even if they did not win a stage. Also, having a rider contending for the Tour podium isn't half bad, either!

Save for one bad day, the stage to Huatacam in the Pyrenees, Alejandro Valverde would be a heavy favorite for a podium finish come Paris in four days time. I asked him what happened down south and why he climbed much better in the Alps. "In the Pyrenees I had bad luck and my legs were not there. In the Alps I felt better and could climb better as well. I am happy with how things have worked out."

George Hincapie crashed hard on the stage to the Alpe and on the day after he was wearing extensive bandages on his left side which were already showing stains from his wounds. He looked like he was in a lot of pain and confrimed it when he succintly answered my question on how he feels. "Bad." I asked him if he would soldier on to Paris and he replied that he would give it a shot. George is a true warrior and I hope he makes to to Paris for his 13th Tour.

The last of the 150 remaining riders to sign in was one of the true revelations of the race, Garmin-Chipotle cyclist Christian Vandevelde. He was oh, so close to the podium, and has still has a shot, but the emerging star recounted what happened in the Alps. "I had one bad day two days ago but I made up for it yesterday."

Most likely referring to the clinic Team CSC Saxo Bank put on during the past three days, when asked how it felt to leave the Alps, Christian was not convinced that the race had truly left the Alps therefore allowing the riders to rest up for the showdown on Saturday. "It feels good, but we are still in the Alps. We have to go to St. Etienne first."

Well, there you have it.

Bruce

Every year I try to get out on course for at least one, hopefully two, mountain stages to see what's up. Obviously, tomorrow on l'Alpe d'Huez will be nothing short of crazy; it's kind of like the unofficial shrine to all that is the Tour de France. Today, I rode up the Col de la Bonnette to see if there was similar antics on the highest continuously paved climb in all of western Europe.

But, first a bit of history about the Bonnette. For many years, the Col d'Iseran which rises above the ski station of Val d'Isere was the highest continuously paved pass in Europe at 2770m(about 9200'). Then some enterprising Frenchman understanding the tourist aspects of having the highest pass in Europe in his backyard decided to create a loop road starting from the top of the Col de Restefond. Now, the Restefond is a pretty formidable climb in its own right at 2650M(8800'), but by adding 150m(500') to the the height of the Restefond, the Bonnette was born at 2800m(9300').

OK. It is not the first time tourism has had an effect on some sort of 'natural' formation, but for cyclists, it is definitely a drag. Both sides of the Col du Restefond are 5000' climbs but they are very well-graded in the 5-9% range with the majority of the climbing in the 7% range. When the locals added the Col de la Bonnette, they put the 150m of additional climbing in just over 1 kilometer resulting in the final pitch to the summit offering sections of 13-14%. After riding up 5000' of moderate climbing, the last thing any cyclist needs is 14% climbing and at 9000' above sea level none the less.

Oh well, we all just do it and curse a bit under our breath. It is still one of the great monuments to cycling even if the 'sting in the tail', so to speak, is a bit contrived. On Tour day, for some reason the gendarmes make the cyclists walk the final kilometer which given its steep nature is probably not met with much protest.

Here are a few photos of the craziness on the Bonnette. The Alpe is still king, but there were enough crazys out there to make the ascent worthwhile.

Bruce

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Race Notes

So there I was just standing at the finish line and when stage winner Cyril Dessel came across the line, he rode right up to me(I don't know why) and the next thing that happens is the total media scrum descends around me like a rugby match with me right in the middle of the whole mess. Here are a couple of pics of the moment.

Here's a shot of Frank Schleck in the yellow jersey.

For us Americans, it was tough to see Christian Vandevelde get dropped from the lead group on the Bonnette. He finished about 2"30" behind the overall leaders which is a courageous effort and shows that as a team leader he knows how to limit his losses. We must not forget that Christian is an excellent time trialist and was fifth in the final TT in the Giro. At 50km, it is not inconceivable that he could pull back two minutes plus on everyone save Cadel Evans and possibly Menchov. Barring a total collapse by Evans (and he is looking a bit vulnerable) Vandevelde probably lost his chance at the win, but the podium is still on the table.

George HIncapie of Team Columbia was looking good for the stage win, but the sting in the tail, the final kilometer of the Bonnette shattered the lead group and he was unable to bridge across to the leaders on the descent which he described as 'crazy". Still, it was a great ride by the 35-year old who showed that he has not given up the fight.

Yet again, Team CSC Saxo Bank held a clinic on the final climb. These guys should write a book.

Ryder Hesjedal of the Garmin-Chipotle team finished a very credible 30th on the stage only 4'27" back of the stage winner. We always knew he could climb, it is great to see him up there in the high mountains.

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.

With 3 miles to go in the first mountain stage of the Tour, once again, it was a Garmin-Chipotle rider providing the fireworks.  Christian Vandevelde rocketed out of the lead group and only Saunier Duval's Leonardo Piepoli could follow.  With one mile remaining it looked like these two had made the winning move and with Piepoli's sprint being almost non-existent, it appeared that Vandevelde was on his way to notching his first stage victory at the Tour and the first for Garmin-Chipotle.

Unfortunately, there was still just enough fight in the chasing group and everything came back together just under the red kite signifying one kilometer to go.  It seems a bit trite to say 'nothing ventured, nothing won' but that's exactly what happens everyday at the Tour. But, with Vandevelde moving up to fourth overall there is a silver lining to the cloud for the leader of the Garmin-Chipotle squad.

It might seem like decades ago, but Christian rode his first Tour in 1999 in support of Lance Armstrong's first yellow jersey.  A pursuiter on the track by training, Christian's move to the road was the natural progression for a rider wanting to turn pro.  He once told me that even though he rode the pursuit on the track, he logged 15,000 miles per year on the road in training.

Vandevelde comes from pretty good stock.  His father was also a bike racer who is probably most famous as one of the Italians on Team Cinzano in the movie 'Breaking Away'. His sister Marissa was also a national caliber rider on the track.

Once he proved himself helping Lance on US Postal in 1999, he was picked to ride the Tour the following year. Unfortunately he crashed in the team time trial and did not see Paris. All set for 2001, a spider bite at the last minute left him off of Lance's Tour team. In 2002, everything looked like it was on track for yet another reutrn to the Tour, but when Christian went home to rest after riding the classics, he was replaced by one of the new Spaniards on the team.

Don't get mad, get even which is exactly what Vandevelde did when he was picked by US Postal to ride in support of Roberto Heras at the Vuelta a Espana at the end of the year.  He rode superbly in the mountains and paced Heras up all the big hills.  But, 2003 was another disappointing year with fewer chances to show his talent so when Heras left for Liberty Seguros in 2004, he brought Christian with him.

Vandevelde spent his last several years at CSC, rebuilding his career under the direction of Bjarne Riis.  He won the Tour of Luxembourg and almost pulled off a Tour stage win into Gap in 2006. When Slipstream Sports signed him for 2008, it looked to be a great marriage of a talented American on a US team.  With his time trialing and climbing skills, he was targeted as team leader for stage races, something that seemed like a natural progression as he matured as a rider.

Christian delivered the goods, notching the first win for the team in Europe with a victory in the time trial stage at the Circuit de la Sarthe.  When the team bested everyone at the Giro d'Italia's first stage team time trial it seemed only fitting that Vandevelde should be first across the line and claim the maglia rosa, the pink leader's jersey. Just as in the Tour, he attacked in the mountains, but fell short. He redeemed himself with a fine top-5 finish in the final time trial into Milan.

Wearing number 191 at the Tour signifies that he is the team leader something that he appears to be taking very seriously.  His top-10 performance in the first time trial is exactly where a team leader needs to be and rather than follow wheels, his attack today to Super Besse showed that he is here in France to put the Garmin-Chipotle jersey at the front of the race.  Vandevelde has shown in the past that he can climb well in the big mountains, but he will need to be more consistent to contend for the Tour podium. Regardless of the result come Paris, we saw Christian's character today.  Bravo!

Bruce