[Tour 2002]- Stage 12

[CycloFiend Tour Addict]

"Finally, the roads pitch upwards"

Stage 11 - 158 km - Pau to La Mongie

Up with the trash collectors this morning, as OLN brings us extended
coverage to cover the first peak of the day - the first true climb of
this years Tour - the Hors Catagorie Col d'Aubisque.

Rolling over the roads towards the Pyrenees, it's an unbeleiveably
beautiful day in the mountains - clear and bright, warm sun evenly upon
the riders. So far no abandonments, and this year's Tour has seen 11
stages and 11 different winners.  That odd circumstance of events
challenging  the previous record set at the '94 Tour, when Piotr Ugromov
won his second victory on the 18th stage.

CSC's irrepressable Frenchman, Laurent Jalabert has a 2:32 as they work
through the alpine switchbacks of the Aubisque.  He tried to punch away
early, got caught and has now fired away again on the climb, passing
huge numbers of Basque flags - it looks like a CalTrans convention with
the number of bright orange t-shirts..  David Extebarria of the Basque
team Euskaltel-Euskadi  had been with him for the first part of this
huge climb,but has faded away as the climbng got serious.

Not-noted-as-a-climber George Hincapie remains in the mix as the USPS
just hammers out a steady pace on the climb. The USPS team has been in
control at the front since the start of the stage, knowing that today,
there will be nowhere to hide.  Still, George is not who you expect to
see near the front as the roads pitch upwards.

Cresting the 5,607' summit, 40 points towards the KoM jerssey go to
Jalabert.  Extebarria suffers over the top 1:17 behind.

Back in the lead group, Domo's Richard Virenque pops away with
FDJeux.com's Bradley McGee - Bradley McGee? -  and Patrice Halgand, Jean
Delatour's leader,  who then drop the skinny Domo opportunist before
they hit the summit, 2:13 behind Jalabert.

Keep in mind, there is still some 91 km to cover on relatively flat
roads before the finishing climb up to La Mongie on the Tourmalet.

The lead group calmly begins to roll down the mountain, and heads of
state are in contention still - Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano in yellow,
Joseba Beloki, Santiago Botero, Oscar Sevilla, Levi Leipheimer, Bobby
Julich, Tyler Hamilton, Andrei Kivilev, Christophe Moreau.  No noted
riders have found themselves chopped off the back as yet.

Eddie Mazzoleni of Tacconi Sport rolls away for some reason as they come
up a slight crest on the descent..  Word comes through that McGee and
Credit Agricole's Jens Voight had a nasty dust up on the descent from
the peak, and McGee lay in a heap for quite a while before regaining his
bike and descending again after the peleton had passed by. He manages to
reattach himself after another bit of ballsy descending. But, he also
needs to spend some time rolling along next to the medical car, as the
doc (docteur?) evaluates how badly he's messed himself up. His jersey
looks like he's been in an XC mountainbike race.

Today's Trivia Question:
The TdF has finished only once before at La Mongie, in 1970 - who was
the winner of that stage?
(answer at the end)

63 km to go - they've been hurtling down hills and Jalabert in
particular manages to take risks that would cause you to lose control of
vital functions. He's edged out to a three minute lead over the larger
group. Mazzoleni had hooked up with Exteberria to create a pairing in
no-man's land, and the USPS-led group of 50 or so calmly courses down
the roadway.

The riders pass through the feed station, which puts us around 59 km to
go. One of the interesting riders who has found himself making the
selection is Erik Zabel, who sunk his talons in deeply as they went up
the climb, and has hung on with the bird-boned boys.  However, his
currently-green-jersey-wearin' counterpart, Robbie McEwen, has been
scuttled out the back and found himself in the "autobus", with those
riders just trying to remain within the time cutoff.  There are some
sprint points left on the roadway today with 26 km to go.

Michael Sanstod has crashed  the way down the Col - he had been in a
group of 6 that went over the crest aways in arrears.  He won't be
regaining the bicycle today, and in fact will ride to the hospital in
the ambulance. His race is over and CSC-Tiscali has one man less.

49 km to go, with Jalabert now out to about a 4 minute lead.  If he can
get out another 20 seconds and hold it, he'll be in yellow at day's end.
The peloton is growing steadily as dropped riders  reattach themselves
to the stretched-out group. They continue to roll through the valley
roads at a brisk pace, led by the USPS.
Yellow Jersey wearin' Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano sits protected by
teammate Isidro Nozal with other companions scattered about him. A very
calm looking Armstrong has 6 teammates up with the group.

Joseba Beloki recovers from a flat and reattaches himself to the group.
Oscar Sevilla had also had a flat just a few moments ago, but the tire
was swapped flawlessly and he was whisked back up to the group.  Beloki
stops again briefly, and is ferried back up to the group.

Robbie McEwen is riding hard, trying to reattach with a group of 30 or
so.  Off the front, Jalabert suffers while rolling a big gear on a bad
roadway, his gap now 3:17 with about 47 km to go.  Any other rider you
could dismiss as caught, but not so with this man.

Back in California, the dog has awakened, and can only get distracted
with ear-scratching for so long, so we go outside for  a "garden" break
and then prepare a scrumptious breakfast. Luckily, she has timed this
particularly well, as there are no climbs and the race is at steady
tempo.

Away to the roads of France once again, with 35 km to go now, and
Jalabert tries to keep things rolling over, out of the saddle continuing
to roll over his cranks through the small town of Neuilh.

Back in the bunch, Rolf Aldag from Telekom has been continuing to set
the pace. He's been working with the USPS for the past 15 km to ensure
that his man Zabel can gain some sprint jersey point.  Another Telekom
rider, Kevin Livingston, reattaches to the rear of the group after a
flat.  He's unfortunately managed to lose 10 minutes on the roads
leading to today's climbs. Still, in this year's Tour, no climber can be
counted out yet.

As the sprint point looms ahead, Telekom fires out like the Italians in
"Breaking Away" - a foursome, including Zabel, of course, dropping all
riders and Zabel pops out to take second place sprint points. With
McEwen out the back, that will shuttle the green jersey back to the
"hardest working man in cycling".  Sehr Gut!

21 km to go, about to be all basically uphill.  Jalabert's lead only
sitting at around 3 minutes.  Jalabert passes under the 20 km to go,
with a posted gap of 3:15.  But, you can hear the engines revving in the
bunch.  The pace is brisk, but not stretched out as the USPS continues
to bang out the cadence.

I'd just like to point out that by editing out most (but not all) of the
commercials, I have taped 1:04:00 of race broadcast over the last hour
and a half... I think OLN has definitely increased their advertising
percentage.

The roadways are turning up a bit, but won't pitch up onto the climb
itself with about 12 km to go.  The gradiant averages 6%, but has
pitches of 10%.  Rabobank begins to marshall their forces a bit, and
Carlos Sastre of CSC edges into the frame, perhaps hoping to launch
Tyler Hamilton up to the fading Jalabert.  Christophe Mengien shows the
KoM jersey near the front, sitting right behind the USPS team members.
Kelme's Santiago Botero slots in just off of Armstrong's right shoulder
and the Igor in Yellow, Gonzalez de Galdeano, rolls along next to
teammate Joseba Beloki, directly behind Lance.

The roadway is definitley pitching upwards into the town of St. Marie de
Campan.  Flashes of orange fly past the camera in the background as the
Caltrans colors of the Basque region ar in evident. Jalabert has a solid
3:21 gap as he begins climbing. Hincapie pounds out the pace at the
front.  Jens Voigt drops off the back, presumably for good.  Hincapie
continues out of the saddle, Jose Rubiera  in his hip pocket.  Just
behind, Lance rolls along easily, zipper on his jersey still up, cap
positioned perfectly. Y'know, as if he was just starting his day.

We're on the climb proper with Jalabert at 9 km to go with 3:10 in hand.

There's been no perceptible change of speed, but as the roads edge
upward Laurent Brochard drops away.  Brad McGee goes back.  David Millar
loses contact.  Michael Boogerd fades. The Armstrong-teammate-led group
rolls under the 10 km to go banner.  Jalabert sits about a mile ahead,
surfing the wave of Basque enthusiasts. Up in front on the yellow jersey
group, Hincapie-Rubiera-Armstrong-Heras tick over the pedals, bringing
the gap down to3 minutes.  Armstrong stands on the pedals briefly and
causes everyone's heartrate to increase a bit.  My man from Fasso
Bortolo, Ivan Basso hovers in the group looking poised for such a young
rider, waiting to go.

The first attack comes - Jean Delatour's Laurent Lefevre moves off the
front as David Extebarria falls away off the back of the group.
Hincapie peels off the pacemaking and kicks into survival mode. Rubiera
calmly increases the pace - Bobby Julich drops away, and Dario Frigo of
Taconi Sport  and Denis Menchov of iBanesto.com cannot hold the pace

Levefre's bid for glory ends abruptly as the group gathers him back.
Jalabert has 2:25 with just under 6 km to go. Beloki tags along just
Armstrong, who sits in second behind Chechu Rubiera.  Leipheimer has
held onto the group.

Christophe Moreau gets dropped.

Lance casts off his hat and throws it off to the side of the roadway.
Look for it on eBay tonight...

Tyler Hamilton and Richard Virenque wobble back and away.  Roberto
Laiseka - the Basque climber on Euskaltel-Euskadi -  looks to be in
trouble as well.

Word comes through that Santiago Botero has punctured!  They replace his
wheel but time lost on a climb always seems to count double.  Moreau
makes it back onto the back of the ever-lengthening tail of the the
gang...

In a flash of yellow flames, Gonzalez de Galdeano is dropping back  He's
falling clearly behind, though not quite pedaling squares.  Still, no
one has attacked from the USPS team.  They continue riding tempo - but
it's a tempo that few in the cycling world can match.  Beloki is holding
on, Basso is in the group.  Kivilev is suviving. Armstrong knows what is
happening to the leaders jersey, can feel it coming to rest on his
shoulders, and calls a couple comands to his men.

5 km to go

Leimpheimer has dropped away.  Rubiera has finished his pacemaking and
turns it over to Roberto Heras.  Heras keeps lifting the pace and
everyone is falling awy.  The only man lefti s Beloki, who along with
Heras and Armstrong rolls upwards.  Heras is just continuing to punish
everyone, climbing in a seated position and just rolling it over,
leaving the road to be greased with the sweat of the other riders.
Leipheimer gets passed by the yellow jersey, but throws it over and
tries to attach hiimself..

Up at the front Jalabert is getting a touch chunky in the pedals, and
Heras/Armstrong/Beloki are under a minute behind.

Armstrong sits behind the phenomenal pace of Heras, just continuing,
talking easily into his microphone from time to time as Beloki's eyes
cross and he tries to breathe through his ears. There doesn't quite seem
to be enough oxygen on the mountain for Beloki.

Jalabert has the great "oh merde" moment as they pull the cars out.
Heras takes a good long look back to see who is left.  He needs
binoculars.  Leipheimer has managed to hold Gonzalez de Galdeano's
wheel, but they are continuing to lose ground.  Armstrong keeps chatting
with Bruyneel over the microphone - he might not even be really talking,
but everytime he easily chats, Beloki seems incredulous. Armstrong knows
how to work all the angles.

Gonzalez de Galdeano is not quite a minute back.  The troika of
Heras/Armstron/Beloki roll up to Jalabert, who throws a grappling hook
onto Beloki's wheel and desparately matches the cadence. But that only
lasts for a few meters.  His face looks ashen, and with a little shake
of the head, he admits that he won't be with them at the finish of this
stage.

The Yellow Jersey group also contains Basso, Lampre's Raimondas Rumsas,
Andrei Kivilev of Cofidis and Jose Azevedo of ONCE, shows at :57.

Behind Armstrong, Beloki  fish-wiggles in the saddle, rises on the
pedals, and sits again rolling hips and shoulders, trying to find some
comfort.  Jalabert is no longer in contact.

The leaders have obtained 64 seconds over the yellow jersey

Heras storms up the hill in a sea of orange shirts and Basque flags.  It
looks like the opening weekend of deer season in Pennsylvania. The crowd
crushes in, some idiots run along side, and some shirtless mook has
spraypainted "GO LANCE" to his back, which finds its way in front of the
camera moto for 7 or 8 strides..  Finally they move into the barriers
section, and are protected from the insanity of the crushing crowds.

Basso has scuttled away from the yellow jersey group, and sits with
Jalabert for a bit before rolling up and away to leave the wreckage of
the Frenchman. Still it is an incredible effort he had maintained.

The yellow jersey has cracked even more fully, dropping away from the
group that he was with  - Azevedo eases back to pace him to the line as
Jalabert is caught by the gang.

Armstrong pulls back and sits on Beloki's wheel.  Under the 1 km to go
banner.  Lance is certainly alert enough to not lose sight of the
tactical elements of the race.  There's no question that he would have
let Heras win the stage if Beloki had been dropped, but since the ONCE
rider has hung on he must be dispatched in the proper manner.

The threesome actually begin duking it out  for tactical position, Heras
zigging and zagging to keep Beloki off balance.  With about 200 meters
to go, Armstrong punches it from the third position and leaves Beloki
gasping behind him.  Seated and strongly rolling over the pedals,
Armstrong punches the sky and wins his 13th Tour stage - now the
uncontested best of any active rider.  Beloki crumples across the line 7
seconds in arrears, and Heras rolls over in third.

Behind the crushing advances of the three finished riders, Ivan Basso
continues ticking over the pedals, but he gets swept up by Raimondas
Rumsas of Lampre and iBanesto's Francisco Mancebo.  Mancebo slips ahead
of Rumsas to nab fourth place on the stage, and slot into the same
position in the GC.  Behind them, Oscar Sevilla just nips Basso,  who
called to the engine room and found no coal left. Still, that young
rider has great things ahead of him.

Kivilev crosses the line, losing time but not turning to dust like so
many other riders..  Jalabert comes through garnering perhaps the second
loudest cheers of the day.  Azevedo paces Gonzalez de Galdeano over the
line 2 minutes back. The incredible aspect of today's stage is the ease
with which Armstrong climbed as all others fell away, gut-shot and
bleeding freely. There are a number of men way down the mountain still,
pulling back on the bars and trying to find a bit more oomph to get over
the line.

...and the mountains have only just begun.

Stage 11 -
1st - Lance Armstrong - USPS
2nd - Joseba Beloki - ONCE
3rd - Roberto Heras - USPS


GC -
Maillot Juane - Lance Armstrong - USPS
2nd - Joseba Beloki - ONCE - 1:12
3rd - Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano - ONCE - 1:48
4th - Raimondas Rumsas - Lampre -   3:32
5th - Santiago Botero - Kelme - 4:13


Stage 12 - Lannemezan to Plateu de Beille - 198 km

Just a nice little jaunt tomorrow, 5 categorized climbs with the
mountaintop finish at the HC Plateau de Belle.  Some guy named Armstrong
may be a factor.


Today's Trivia Answer:
Bernard Thevenet, at the age of 22
( I had guessed Eddie Merckx, but obviously, I was wrong...)