I was expecting today to be a real decisive day for the Tour, but, fortunately, nothing is obvious tonight.
Cadel Evans is 1:34 behind the yellow jersey, and while I think it won't be enough to prevent him from winning this Tour, it's not going to be that easy for him. The time trial is going to be decisive again, and I'm not sure that this is the best thing for the race. Playing the Tour on the time trial might help to celebrate one rider, but not a team.
But today was another CSC day. They are having such a great Tour de France that I feel like it's a bit of a shame for them to (maybe) miss the yellow jersey at the end of the week.
I think the weather conditions, with a lot of wind today, have really impacted the race. If the conditions had been better, the CSC team would have done a much better job and Evans wouldn't be as confident tonight. In an ideal world, CSC should have attacked very early. But given the weather, I think they realized they couldn't, and they decided to wait and launch Sastre on l'Alpe d'Huez.
Once again, l'Alpe d'Huez has hosted an incredible show. It is always completely crazy and fantastic to live through moments like that in sports. And more generally speaking, as I have been working with France2, the French TV channel that produces the images of the Tour, I can tell you that the audiences all around the world have been really high this year. Lots of people watch the Tour in France but also all around the world, and it's really good for cycling.
I will keep on predicting that the final result will be Evans No. 1 and Sastre No. 2.
Tomorrow will not be a "rest day," as I'm pretty sure CSC will try to keep a high pace just to show Evans that they will give everything until they cross the finish line in Paris. So keep an eye on tomorrow, there could be some surprises within the next 48 hours.
Please do not hesitate to post your comments, as I will be glad to share ideas and comments with you. And remember, if you want to enjoy the Tour de France from the inside, do it with www.RonanPensecTravel.com, the official Tour de France operator. VIP passes, exclusive interviews with the pros, and so much more to live together!
Ronan Pensec participated in 8 Tours, and wore the yellow jersey in 1990 while racing for Greg Lemond's Z team. He now operates Ronan Pensec Events, an official Tour de France operator hosting VIP cycling tours for recreational cycling enthusiasts.
Tour de France
Previous Next
Cindy
I agree! Christian is having a great tour and is a terrific time trialer. Hopefully he'll be able to make up some time on Sat.
Dave H
in response to: Jeff
IF 'VDV' can ride the final TT at 36+ mph (a la Le Mond in '89) then he will be on the podium.
Is this even possible for him, as great a 'contre la montre' rider he may be???
Speaking of which Ronan; I guess the ASO agrees with you as to the final TT deciding the whole tour is NOT a good thing for the event or cycling since they have not had the final TT finish in Paris as the last stage since that closest of all time Tour (and not even too many times before that one)!!!
I for one LOVE the 'race of truth', and feel that it IS a truely deserving decider of the greatest sporting event on this planet!!!!!!!!!!
YES, pro cycling IS a 'team sport', but the individual "star" should STILL have to pedal his machine at speed, alone against; the wind, his own mind, and pain threshold to prove his worthiness as a champion.
That being said it would have been fun to see CSC do a TTT this year even though that would have been an unfair advantage to their GC riders (as well as WAY TOO disheartening to ALL of the other riders/teams!).
I mean WHERE do Fabian, Stuey and Jens get it from, BOMBING UPHILL at the front for their team???!!!
One of the reasons we don't see them in the Tour anymore, I guess.
JoeV
This years TDF was great to watch as there have been many exciting moments; most of them coming from riders other than Evens, Sastre and the Schleck brothers. It would have been super to see one or more of the real leaders take some risks to show some type of dominance but up until now that has not happened. There still is some time for someone on CSC to go for it and let's hope they do. What do they have to loose....................... With a team with that amount of talent anything other than the top of the podium should be viewed as a major disappointment
For my money I will take 9 Jens Voigt's on my team any day..............who needs climbers! Jens is a true joy to watch!
jjmucr
Ronan, what should CSC's tactics be the next two days, besides sheltering Sastre and fatiguing Evans? And, how would one accomplish it/them?
Bruce Robinson
hate to say it, but possibly Popo is the biggest bust of the race.
EJLevy
Ronan,
So, what was wrong with the weather? It looked pretty nice to me. Sun, no clouds, not too hot from what Phil and Paul were saying and it sure wasn't a wet course as the dampness caused spills the other day. Don't all the riders ride in the same weather anyway? So long as the pavement is fast and grippy I see no room for complaints!
EJ
Never did figure out what you meant by "funnier" the other day.
Iano
Wow, what a day on the Alp!! I wouldn't write off Sastre. CSC Saxo have played a beautiful game so far. And they are on the best TT bike by far (I ride a Cervelo P3, so I'm biased). Isn't it great to have 4 riders within 94 secs going into the TT??
frank
We're "playing" the tour on the time trial because the "team" of CSC was unable to bury Cadel. They had plenty of chances and now Cadel gets to highlight his strength. That's how it works. Not unfortunate for the tour.
Jeff
I wonder if Sastre has done enough to win the Tour? It's going to be a pressure filled time trail, especially for Evans. What if he has an 'okay' TT, and Sastre has a great one? I know Cadel is, by far, the better TT rider, but man: I was surprised he did not put in more of an effort on Alpe D'Huez to close that gap a little more. That's what happens when you don't have a strong team. Silence Lotto has really underperformed in that department. Look for both Evans and McEwen to leave if Evans does not win this year.
I hope VandeVelde can put in a good performance. I think his efforts to be the leader at Garmin have been impressive. That crash really impacted his tour. It's amazing over a three week race that there is such little room for error.
Commenting on what Iano said: I agree that CSC look like geniuses seeing how well that strategy played out to put Sastre in yellow. Wow! Again, I'm still surprised he stayed away. He's a great climber, and I'm impressed with the patience he has shown. That Alpe win was a masterstroke for CSC. They looked like US Postal today (July 24) the way they have controlled the race.
ck2r
Jesse@Active
in response to: EJLevy
EJ,
About the weather, Bruce Hildenbrand wrote in his race notes for yesterday's stage, "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."
So it definitely affected the race strategy. Imagine the pressure on Evans if they had put the hammer down earlier! Frankie Andreu says in today's podcast that the real plan was for the Schleck brothers to catch up with Sastre on l'Alpe d'Huez, but they never did.
And I'm guessing Ronan meant "more fun" when he wrote "funnier", but it got lost in translation...
Don't give up on Valverde and Vandevelde yet.