[Tour 2002]- Stage 15

[CycloFiend Tour Addict]

Stage 15 - Vaison la Romaine to Les Deux Alpes - 226.5 km

Two riders less now, including the abandonment of Credit Agricole's
great French hope, Christophe Moreau, retiring after crashing and
landing primarily on his upper lip. That means 162 active riders, and 7
teams with full compliments of team members.

Despite (or maybe because of) the distance of this stage, the riders
seem to have set a fast pace, and are already drawing a bead on the
final climb of the day.

An early breakaway, mobilized by Domo's Axel Merckx and including
Kelme's Santiago Botero has not been causing as  much consternation as
it would've a couple days ago.  Botero's implosion on the slopes of Mt.
Ventoux yesterday have put him over 18 minutes off the lead.  Still, he
with his variety of skills, he is a force to be considered in the future
if not specifically in this year's Tour.  But, it's been Merckx who has
been nailing the KoM points over the smaller climbs of this day's stage,
leading a group which includes Sandy Casar from FDJeux.com, Emmanual
Magnien from Bonjour, Lotto's Mario Aerts and Martin Hvastija from
Alessio.

They roll under the 20 km to go banner with about 8:55 lead over a
single chaser, and 9:30 to the peloton. It's not a huge batch of climbs
today, and with the Galibier and two other Hors Categorie climbs looming
tomorrow, many riders are being a bit careful today not to needlessly
waste energy.  Riders aren't lethargic, but there is a certain
"let's-get-through-this-day" aspect to their efforts. It is a
picture-perfect day in the French Alps, a far cry from the freezing and
storming conditions the racers faced the only other time they have
finished on Les Deux Alpes.

ONCE's Jose Azevedo had moved away from the peloton before they hit the
climb to Les Deux Alpes, and he hangs in no man's land right now.
Perhaps ONCE has delusions of launching a few riders to act of stepping
stones to serve up the stage to Beloki.

As the climb begins in earnest, the USPS pushes and increases the pace,
splitting an already shattered peloton and sending a batch of riders to
the rear.  Jalabert has decided to pull the plug today and rolls along
thinking about tomorrow.

Notes from the non-Tour World:
Sufferin' Jan Ullrich's sentance has been announced, and he will be
suspended for 6 months for his recreational use of amphetamines.

Up front, the ONCE squad has taken over the front of the pack,  but
Mapei's Miguel Martinez moves away smartly from the peloton.  As the
pace continues to climb, ONCE's efforts has chipped the lead group down
to about 30 riders.  Lance Armstrong rolls along, sitting in behind a
set of four ONCE riders followed by two of his teammates.

Merckx tests the lead group with an accelleration. Riders regroup, then
Aerts blasts away in a show of Belgian swagger.  The riders mark him,
and Santiago Botero makes a clearly decisive attack, splintering the
riders who had been working together so well.  Botero has leapt up the
roadway continues to move away from the lanky frame of Axel Merckx, who
has gained about 50 meter gap on Mario Aerts.

Another single rider moves awy from the peloton, as Tacconi Sport's
Dario Frigo decides to set his own pace as the peloton runs through the
10 km to go banner. Again the ONCE-led leaders group doesn't vary their
pace to chase him. They march steadily forwad, content to let him roll
up the roadway.

Back up front, Merckx has a good pace and looks well under control, but
Botero's low and hunched style has already gained him 18 seconds.  Aerts
still hangs on, a virutal elastic looped around Merckx stretched to 50
or 60 meters. A Belgian won't let a Belgian move away unchallenged.
With 6 km to go, and the riders move through a town perched on the
climb.  Botero seems to fly up the average 7% gradiant - moving at a
frightening rate, notched into his ungainly time trial position.  He's
managed to open his lead to 42 seconds over Merckx.

Another flurry goes away from the trailing leaders group, with Carlos
Sastre from CSC moves off with an iBanesto.com rider in tow.

Richard Virenque and Bobby Julich hang onto the back of the leaders'
group, which has cut the deficet to Botero down to 6:58.  Botero's  gap
back to Meckx is just under a minute. Within half a kilometer or so,
Virenque can no longer match the pace and begins the slow and painful
drift awy from the group. Of course, he worked pretty hard yesterday.

Botero looks like Rocky Marciano as he hunches over the handlebars, a
boxer driven back into the corner, now dropping his chin and ready to
come battling out..  Aerts has managed to reel in a few meters on
Merckx, and finds indeed that he has the legs to blow past him at the 3
km to go banner.  A looney with a Colombian flag runs along in front of
the lead photo moto, oblivious to the cacauphony of horns being sounded
at him.

Mancebo moves up the roadway, but this move catches ONCE's attention and
one of their  riders tags onto his rear wheel. Shuffling and surging
continues.  Rabobank and nor-Cal homie Levi Leipheimer is only 9 seconds
behind 8th place Oscar Sevilla on the GC, and Dutch hard man Michael
Boogerd sets an increased pace under the 4 km to go banner.  It seems
that Sevilla has dropped away from the lead group, and Boogerd moves to
help Leipheimer to take advantage of the situation.  Ivan Gotti now
finds himself off the tail with Oscar Sevilla and Euskaltel-Euskadi's
Robert Laiseka.  Rabobank continues to push the pace.

Botero has rolled under the 1 km to go banner, as Leipheimer notches
into Boogerd's hip pocket, still about 7 minutes behind. Botero's
battling style drags his body up toward the finish, as his teammate
Sevilla drifts back . Erasing the nightmare of yesterday's Mt. Ventoux
stage, the blue-eyed Colombian rider takes a last glance back as he
rolls past a massive crowd and realizes he will not be caught.  He
estatically claps his hands and finishes just under 6 hours of effort.
Clearly pleased, Santiago Botero becomes the only rider other than Lance
to win a second stage so far in this year's Tour.

Lotto's Mario Aerts hangs on, turning his pedals over on his
compact-frame Litespeed, rolling in 1:51 behind.  Axel Merckx ticks over
the pedals to notch in at third.

Back in the fast-closing lead group, Rabobank continue to fire up the
pace, as they taste blood in the water from the waning Sevilla. Suddenly
Joseba Beloki moves away out of the bunch as they roll into the final
bits of the race.  He gets a gap while Armstrong spots him from the far
side of the roadway and elevates the pace to reattach himself.
Raimondas Rumasas latches on like a love-starved limpet.  Armstrong
slots in behind Beloki and hovers out of his saddle, waiting to see if
the Spaniard has anything left in the tank.  Beloki cannot manage
another surge, and Rumsas ticks around them both just before the line,
Beloki dragging himself over just behind him while Armstrong checks the
master clock to see how much time Botero had gotten back.

Sevilla comes through at 8:11, about 2 and a half  minutes behind the
Leipheimer-included lead group.  That's enough to drop him out of the
top ten tonight.

Stage 15 -
1 - Santiago Botero
2 - Mario Aerts 1:51
3 - Axel Merckx 2:30
4 - Immanual Magnien 4:22
5 - Sandy Casar 4:28
6 - Jose Acosta 5:15
7 - Raimondas Rusmasa 5:41
8 - Joseba Beloki - 6:41
9 - Lance Armstrong - 6:41
10 - Francisco Mancebo - 6:45

GC
Malliot Juane - Lance Armstrong
2 - Joseba Beloki - 4:21
3 - Ramondas Rumsas - 6:39
4 - Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano - 8:50
5 - Francisco Mancebo - 10:54
6 - Jose Azevedo - 11:11
7 - Santiago Botero - 11:31
8 - Roberto Heras - 11:41
9 - Levi Leipheimer - 13:00
10 - Ivan Basso - 14:02

Leipheimer moved ahead of Sevilla, but Botero's ride has put him into
7th, back up from yesterday's devastating drop to 18th. So, Leipheimer
will not move on the GC.  Fasso Bortolo's Ivan Basso has notched into
the top ten and continues to hold the white jersey for the best placed
young rider.


If you have missed any of the race reports so far, they are archived at:

http://www.cyclofiend.com


Stage 16 - Les Deux Alpes to La Plagne - 179.5 km

Three climbs, all HC.  Pain.  Blood on the water.  Flesh on the
roadway.  Gears that aren't small enough. Leg muscles exploding.  Grown
men crying.
and that sort of stuff...