So,what happened in today's stage? As usual,a breakaway went away during the first kms of race.The riders in the escape group were Hesjedal,Van Den Broeck,Spilak,Astarloza, Cancellara,José Ivan Gutierrez,Moinard,Moncoutié,Fedrigo and Flecha. With 20 kms to go,Spilak attacked and was the last rider to get caught with about 2 kms to go.Liquigas and Astana pulled very hard in the last kms before of the beginning of the 8 kms climb towards Verbier,but as soon as the climb began it was Saxo Bank's turn to set the pace.Voigt,los Sorensens and Cancellara set a very fast pace on the climb and after that team action there were just 5 riders left at the head of the race.Who were they? The Schleck brothers (yip de do da day!!!),Armstrong,Contador and Wiggins (!!!!!). All the other riders were behind.
With 5 kms to go,Contador attacked and Andy Schleck was the only rider that tried to chase him.The Spaniard soon gained 20 seconds on Andy,while behind the tempo got lower and some riders (Sastre,Nibali,Kreuziger,Vande Velde,Evans) managed to come back in Frank's group.Vande Velde was then dropped by the other riders,that began to attack one after the other.Also Frank attacked and was soon joined by Nibali and Wiggins.Also Sastre and Evans attacked and Armstrong remained alone with his teammate Kloden,that pulled for him.
The victory went to Contador,who crossed the finish line 43" before Andy.Third was Nibali (who ran a great stage ),while 4th was Frank,who arrived together with Wiggins and Sastre.They lost 1'06" from Contador,but they gained 29 seconds on sir Lancelot (and me thinks that Sastre pretty appreciated this fact).Sir Lancelot came in 9th,behind Evans and Kloden.10th was Kirchen,11th was Kreuziger and 12th was Tony Martin.The rider aus Deutschland lost the white jersey during today's stage and now that jersey is on Andy's shoulders.Rinaldo Nocentini,after 8 days in yellow,arrived 19th,2 minutes and a half after Contador (that is also the new maillot jaune).Vande Velde lost 2'41" seconds from Contador and has said that he would help Wiggins in the next stages.Surprising neo-pro Brice Feillu arrived 25th, 3'14" after the winner,while LL Sanchez was 28th with 3'17" of dela).Not-So-Smiley-in-those-days instead arrived 65th,6'27" after Contador.
"It's true,I have more pression on me in this Tour because of Lance.This victory makes me very happy.I really had to do my best to achieve it.I thought I could attack with 4 or 3 kms to go, instead Saxo Bank team set a very fast pace,I saw that a lot of good riders got dropped and I attacked.Now my situation is better than Armstrong's one.The team worked well and I'm sure they'll be working so good also in the next week.The Tour isn't over,I made an important step but I'll have to make other steps if I want to win.The third week is the hardest.This yellow jersey is different from the one of 2007,the presence and the resistence of Armstrong give it more value",that's what Contador said.
Andy instead said: "Contador had the yellow jersey in Paris-Nice and he lost it there. The race will not be over until the Champs Élysées.He's a bit stronger than me,but he will have some pressure on him in the next days. t will not be a piece of cake for him.I don't think it is going to be Armstrong who will arrive behind Contador," he added.
Talking about the GC,here's the top 10 of the race:1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 63:17:56
2 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana 0:01:37
3 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Garmin - Slipstream 0:01:46
4 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana 0:02:17
5 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:02:26
6 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:30
7 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas 0:02:51
8 Tony Martin (Ger) Team Columbia - HTC 0:03:07
9 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux 0:03:09
10 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 0:03:25
Tomorrow it will be the rest day,then there will be 2 tough stages.
(Photo Afp)
Wiggins surprised me. Now I think he is dangerous rivalry! Plus he is better in TT, than Andy...
RispondiEliminaI watched this stage almost from the beginning and I must admit first 180 km were pretty boring:))) It was just a chance to see Switzerland. Amazing country!
I didn't think Wiggins could go so well in the mountains,he's been a great surprise for me! And,as you say,he's a very good TT,so he may be able to finish on the podium in Paris.
RispondiEliminaI watched just the last 30 kms of today's stage because I had to go out this afternoon.I was starting to fear another boring day,but then Saxo Bank began to set the pace at the head of the race and I understood that,after 2 pretty boring weeks (before of this stage Contador was the only GC rider that had attacked),today it was gonna be very exciting!
And yes,Switzerland is a nice country.Some places,like Saint Moritz,are very lovely.