[Tour 2002]- Stage 13

[CycloFiend Tour Addict]

"Briefly away from the climbs"

Stage 13 - Lavelanet - Beziers - 171 km

Beginning today with 70 km to go - a group of 11 men stretch away on the
flat roads after the initial climbs of the stage - currently out to a
surprising 10:21. It's definitely an experienced bunch, having shared 54
Tours between them.

17 - Bobby Julich - Telekom
47 - David Millar - Cofidis
51 - Laurent Jalabert - CSC
102 - Michael Boogerd - Rabobank
109 - Beat Zberg - Rabobank
126 - Miguel Martinez - Mapei
136 - David Latasa - iBanesto.com
139 - Javier Pascual Rogriguez - iBanesto.com
161 - David Extebarria - Euskaltel-Euskadi
178 - Eddie Mazzoleni - Tacconi Sport
204 - Laurent Brochard - Jean Delatour

After the leg-crushing and enthusiasm-sapping climbs and of the last two
days - in which it still seemed that the USPS was riding well within
themselves - the riders cover the kilometers over a steadily decreasing
incline.  166 riders left.  10 riders down from previous day.  They
aren't sharing any of names right now, but mention that 3 were
eliminated on time, 1 rider didn't start this morning (so, maybe a few
simply climbed into their team cars or were eaten by bears yesterday on
the road).  Jacky Durand was summarily disqualified at the end of
yesterday's stage for towing behind their #2 car, so both he and the
driver will be watching the rest of the race from the cafes of their
home towns.  The two "battling joeys" were found out for yesterdays
fisticuffs - Christophe Moreau got clipped $400 and two minutes of his
time while Carlos Sastre got nicked 10 seconds on time.  The referees
stated that since the two didn't directly endanger any other riders,
they are being allow to remain in the race.

A beautiful, hot, near windless day as we head along now-flat roads
toward the Mediterranian Sea, past vineyards and fields. The breakaway
boys have leveraged an increasing amount of time as they roll down
towards the coast.  With Beloki safely hiding in the slipstream of the
USPS-led peloton, there's no reason to drive the pace, so Lance and the
USPS squad roll along easily, sipping water and chatting into the
microphone. The 11:23 gap doesn't seem to be getting anyone's attention,
as the only riders who aren't licking their wounds would be the
sprinters. Lotto's Robbie McEwen needs to finish two places ahead of
Zabel to snag the Green Jersey back onto his shoulders.

Today's Trivia Question:
What is the most number of stages won by a single rider in the Tour
(...and today, I'll try to remember to hide the answer at the end of the
report...)

Jalabert, after losing 11 minutes to Armstrong (and he lost 14 minutes
up the final climb of the day - as he started the incline 3 minutes
ahead), has again found himself in a satisfying position.  His
aggression over the past three stages is phenomenal, and it was his
attack today that popped this group off the front.   He started the day
a bit over 17 minutes down, and on the road right now, he's risen up the
classification virtuale to a much more impressive position.  With only a
slight rise to the finishing line, he has a good chance to hang onto a
better positioin at day's end.

45 km to go, and a 13:01 gap.

In this year's Tour, 8 Spanish riders sit in the top 11 places. Although
Jalabert may decrease that number by the end of today's racing.

Zabel moves back up through the team cars, trailed by FDJeux.com
sprinter Baden Cooke.  It's a bit surprising not to see another teammate
at least hovering to make sure he regains the group without incident.

40 km to go, the gap at 13:25, the word has spread through the Posties
that they should get a bit serious.  ONCE has brought their riders to
sit in behind them, and the pace clearly rises and the peloton begins to
thin and stretch. Santiago Botero finds himself caught out a bit,
whether because of a mechanical or natural break is unclear, and relies
upon his teammates to regain the group, which quickly occurs.

Paul shares some mathematics - 2,100 km have been covered so far this
year and Laurent Jalabert has been on the lead of the Tour for 455 km's
this year. What a ride this man has had since leaving ONCE a couple
years ago. If he indeed stays retired, the pro ranks will lose one of
its chief animators. It would be great to see him take a stage this year
as well. But, he's got 10 other riders to work that out with today.

The Lampre riders have gotten a bit edgy, working out the math and
realizing that Jalabert has hopped ahead of their contender - Raimondos
Rumsas - so the world's least impressive headwear makes its way to the
front. The pace continues as riders snake across the roadway, trying to
find the right combination of wheels to follow as echelons form.  They
don't want to drop back but won't exert too much effort.  Brad McGee of
FDJeux.com stretches off the back end of the peloton, still bandaged and
probably more than a bit stiff from his 60 mph crash on the Col
d'Aubisque. Willing himself to stay attached, he redoubles his efforts
and wobbles back up toward the bunch.

A regrouped peloton has about 40 km to go now - the breakaway nearly 10
km ahead of them, and the USPS has eased up a bit, letting the other
teams stick their shovels in the pile, with 13:30 or so still sitting
between the two groups of riders.  On the horizon, scrub lands seem to
have caught fire, adding a few microdegrees to the 30 degree weather.
Lampre brings Ludo Dierckxsens and a couple other riders to the front
once again, and try to push the pace and reduce the defecit.

Well, a Frenchman does in fact hold one of the noted positions in the
race; Ag2R-Prevoyance's Stephane Berges is officially the Lanterne Rouge
- almost 2 hours behind the yellow jersey.  Someone has to be there, I
suppose...

With the lead group 22 km to go, the lead has dropped under 13 minutes
for the first time in a bit. Lampre is not reducing things by too much,
and to state the obvious, there are two races on the roads today.
There's no chance of a catch, obviously, and the question has become who
in the breakaway will create the crucial move to win the stage. On the
roadside still 16 km out of town, crowds pack the roadway.

The "Autobus" phenomenon is finally explained - if you finish in a group
that represents more than 25% peloton, they cannot be eliminated on
time.  Always wondered about that.  Clearly though, you don't want to
fall away from the autobus....

Up front, Jalabert suddenly raises the pace as some undulations begin to
occur on the roadway.  Julich hammers to catch him, causing a quick
regrouping. David Millar makes a superb move, jumping away from
mid-group.   Boogerd, Latasa, Exteberria and Brochard realize his speed
and quickly move to grasp his wheel.  Another accelleration by Boogerd
solidifies the gap as the others slot in and begin to smoothly work
together. A selection has been made.

10 km to go - 11:50 to the peloton, 25 seconds to the pursuers.
Mazzoleni has moved away from the second group and drags up the second
iBanesto.com rider - Pascual Rodriguez.  Up in the front, Millar looks
extremely calm and Extebarria looks tiny as he rolls past him in the
paceline.

The finishing city of Bezier appears just up the road, and clearly it's
not just a flat run-in.  It sits on a hill, which might actually favor
the explosive power of Extebarria. The Mazzoleni/Pascual pairing has
lost impetus, and is falling away from the pace of the 5 riders on the
lead. Team cars are moving forward, showing that the the gap has
increased to nearly a minute.  The lead 5 fly under the 5 km banner.
Boogerd manages to find himself at the back of the group much of the
time, first simply ignoring his turn at the front, and then by feigning
conversation with his team car - the Dutch tactical sense is really
unmatched.

Brochard pops away to test the waters, and Boogerd jumps immediately up
to him, shutting down the move. Millar sits midpack, eyeing Extebarria
as they run under the 3 km to go banner.

The duking begins in earnest,  Brochard goes again. Others are instantly
upon him.  Again Brochard, this time with a bit more determination,
Extebarria and Latasa find his wheel within a couple seconds, and then
the other two strain back on.   Under the 2 km to go, dozens of tactical
decisions flying by every second, Brochard again hammers, Boogerd
immediately gets on his wheel. The two look for a moment like they might
get away.  Then Extebarria calmly regains their wheels, and the group
reforms once more.

The leaders roll under a long underpass, Latasa takes a flyer as they
pop out into the sunshine again, and gains a strong gap. Millar leads
the chase and everyone but Brochard quickly regains them.  Brochard
reattaches as they come under 1 km to go.  It's an incline all the way
to the finish.

Latasa gets almost instantly pushed to the front, Extebaerrea swinging
back and forth, swiveling his head to look back over each shoulder
several times a pedal stroke. Latasa starts sprinting from the front!
He's waaaaaaaay out from the finish line - easily  500 meters still to
go. No way does this guy have the legs to leave the others behind now,
but a gap is evident between him and Extebarria.  Brochard ups his speed
and Millar and Boogerd follow.

Latasa shuts off his efforts, whether realizing he went too early or
just out of gas is immaterial - as he realizes he's started too early
for this course, and can no longer pedal with conviction.  Brochard goes
hard at 200 meters - he's had the most attacks over the last 5 km, and
it may have been one too many.  Millar on his shoulder punches past him
with smooth conviction and heads for the line with Extebarria hard on
his wheel.  Boogerd follows them in position to pounce, but is clearly
running out of roadway.  Millar continues a massively smooth
accelleration and continues going faster and faster.  Extebarria doesn
not have the speed to come around him and David Millar takes the stage
with arms upraised. The only British rider in the race takes his first
road stage win!

A moderate coffee break later, the peloton has become fired up, as the
sprint points from 12th place on will help to determine the Green
Jersey.  Lampre still rides on the front as 7:30 has passed since
Millar's win.  Through the underpass we begin to run out off Lampre
riders, and the sprint leadout men elbow to the front.  Credit Agricole
and Telekom are in evidence, and Zabel sits behind teamates Stephan
Weseman, Danilo Hondo and Gian Matteo Fangnini, hounded by what seems to
be every Aussie in the race. Robbie McEwen sits in Zabel's hip pocket as
they press towards the line.

They swing around a sharp left turn and a bit of confusion sets in.
Hondo tries  to lead out Zabel, but he's become unattched in the group
and Baden Cooke leaps away toward the line. Stuart OGrady cannot find
his sprint pace and McEwen moves around him. Zabel grabs McEwen's wheel
and then starts moving up on him. But, it is enough to get ahead as
McEwen throws his bike at the line and crosses just behind Cooke and
ahead of Zabel..   They finish 9:59 behind Millar's time..

The battle for the Green Jersey will continue to the streets of Paris,
no doubt.

Stage 13 -
1 - David Millar
2- David Extebarria
3 - Michael Boogerd
4 - Laurent Brochard
5 - David Latasa


GC -
Mailliot Juane - Lance Armstrong  - USPS
2 - Joseba Beloki - ONCE - 2:28
3 - Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano - ONCE- 3:19
4 - Raimondos Rumsas - Lampre Daikin - 5:15
5 - Santiago Botero - Kelme - 5:44
6 - Marcos Serrano - ONCE - 7:14
7 - Roberto Heras - USPS - 8:01
8 - Jose Azevedo - ONCE - 8:24
9 -  Laurent Jalabert - CSC - 8:57
10 - Oscar Sevilla - Kelme - 9:05

Stage 14 - Lodeve to Mt Ventoux - 221 km

Only one climb tomorrow, but it will loom menacingly on the horizon all
day.  165 km of  flat roads upon which the riders have little to
distract them from the "Giant of Provence" - Mt. Ventoux.  Superlatives
all fail to describe the difficulty of the climb and the intensity of
the efforts which will be played out. There's even two sprint points
along the middle part of the stage.


Today's Trivia Answer:
8 stages - held jointly by three different riders.
Charles Pelissier 1930
Eddie Merckx 1970 & '76
Freddie Maartens 1978
...and Merckx was the only one of the riders to go on to win the Tour in
that same year.