[Tour 2002]- Stage 17
CycloFiend Tour Addict
race-report@cyclofiend.com
Thu, 25 Jul 2002 09:22:45 -0700
Stage 17 - Alme to Cluses - 142 km
Although the inclines of the mountains are not as difficult today, the
intensity of the racing remains high, and bunches of riders have split
away and formed three distinct groups. Following the first sprint, the
riders climbed the Cormet de Roselend. Between those two accellerations
of the pace, we've ended up with this situation:
Lead Group of 5 riders:
15 - Guiseppe Guerini - Telekom
35 - Jose Guiterrez - Kelme
142 - Mario Aerts - Lotto
171 - Dario Frigo - Tacconi Sport
166 - Roberto Laiseka - Euskaltel-Euskadi
Chase Group of 4 riders @ 50 seconds behind:
51 - Laurent Jalabert - CSC Tiscali
64 - Thor Hushovd - Credit Agricole
92 - Sandy Casar - FDJeux.com
25 - Jorg Jaksche - ONCE
And a third group of 13 riders @ 2:15, who I'll list if they become more
animated.
Behind them, the Rabobank and USPS-led peloton roll along at 3:20.
There had been a bit of concern on the Roselend climb, as both George
Hincapie and Floyd Landis became detached - but Hincapie just needed to
change bikes, and Landis quickly regained the group on the descent.
Rabobank continues driving the pace, as Levi Leipheimer looked very
strong on early climbs, and certainly can move up a place or two in the
stages to come with his time-trialing abilities. There are 86 km to go,
with none of today's stage being played out over anything but undulating
roadway. Actually, the first 10 km's, including the rolling start, were
flat.
Tacconi Sport's Massimo Donati did not start today, too pummelled by the
mountains to continue. Three riders were eliminated on time yesterday
in addition to the day's abandons. One rider who nipped by the time
limit was Domo's US rider, Fred Rodriguez. He's had a difficult tour,
despite or perhaps because of high hopes placed upon him.
The leaders currently climb the Col des Saisies with 77 km to go. Dario
Frigo has raised the pace a bit on the 6% climb, and has caused
Guiterrez and Laiseka to get clipped off. The Jalabert group is
torturing Casar, who dangles about two meters behind the other three
men. As we watch, he succumbs to his fatigue and the pace of the others,
and slides away as the riders move upward through alpine meadows, past
farmlands and the inevitable groups of spectators out in what always
seems to be the middle of nowhere.
A few flurries of attcks pip away from the main group, and Unai Osa from
iBanesto.com moves away, followed quickly by ONCE's Jose Azevedo.
CSC-Tiscali's climbin' Carlos Sastre moves up from the group of 13
riders as the rest of them splinter into cranky squabbles and drop back
to the main group. He gains the Jalabert group and then quickly moves
away from them with little wasted effort.
Azevedo hooks up with Osa off the front of the main group.
Kelme's Santiago Botero moves away off the front of the yellow jersey
group, and hooks up with the Osa/Azevedo pair. That causes a definite
reaction from those directly affected behind, as Joseba Beloki, Ivan
Basso, Raimondas Rumsas and Levi Leipheimer are moving hard to run down
Botero/Osa/Azevedo - among them rides the yellow shadow of Lance
Armstrong. They move up and catch the riders, Armstrong looks a bit
strained, whether because of the physical effort or simple vexation at
being needlessly pushed remains to be seen.
The orange Basque skeleton Laiseka has latched onto the Jalabert group,
and with a revitalized Casar notch into the climb - they trail the
Frigo/Aerts/Guerini group by about 40 seconds.
The continued attacks by the Spanish teams are definitely putting the
USPS team and Armstrong under some pressure. As we hit the summit, flags
are tossed out by a gentle breeze and clouds cover the moutntains on the
horizon - Aerts, Frigo and Guerini roll through in that order
It seems Botero has been dropped back, but it may have been another
Kelme rider. The Category 1 climb is scattering riders all over the
place, and it's difficult to see who is where. Virenque seems to be in
trouble, paced by another Domo teammate a bit off the pace of the
peloton. 69 km to go at the summit, and now Floyd Landis paces the
yellow jersey group over at 4:07. The lead group of three hold 2:40
over the Jalabert chase group. The one rider who is not being noticed is
Carlos Sastre, who didn't seem to have been caught
It's a hellish descent into town to finish the day, and if the heavy
looking clouds beat the riders to town, it will be bad news. Right now,
however, riders have dry roads and sweep through a series of S-bends in
the beautiful green hillsides of the Alps. A group of 13 swinging
through the turns, leading 3 minute. With the violent movements into
and out of the peloton, I'm not sure who all that bunch consists of, but
it includes ONCE's Jaksche, Nozal and Serrrano, CA's Hushovd, Kelme's
Guitterrez, CSC's Sastre, iBanesto's Osa, and Jean Delatour's Laurent
Lefevre.
The dog is fed, although eyeing my bagel with conviction. My ribs hurt
like hell this morning after washing out my front wheel last evening on
the trail and landing directly on a rock, and I fear I may not be able
to defend my snack against her cunning onslaught.
Meanwhile, back in France, Jalabert eases a bit on the climb and begins
to look for some friends to ride home with, nearly secure in his lead of
the KoM jersey. We're on Col des Aravis now, a
moderately-difficult-if-that-was-all-you-had-to-ride 11.7 km climb,
first used in the tour in 1911. Thor Hushovd leads the pace up the
climb. They roll along 2:57 behind the Frigo/Aerts/Guerini group, while
Jalabert sits at about 4:30 - riding alone among cheers and accolades of
everyone who has been watching him through 14 years of professional
racing. The Armstrong group tags along about 1:45 behind him. The
peloton seems more interested in regrouping than making a real effort to
pull anyone back - it would seem that almost everyone with any legs left
whatsoever has reattached themselves.
Jalabet has regained Laiseka, and been joined by Tacconi Sport's Eddie
Mazzoleni, who had been among the group of 13.
Up front Guerini has taken up the pace as they roll past the 1 km to the
summit sign. Huge crowds line the roadway, pressing in 5 or 6 deep on
the roadway, and coating the hills in huge groups where the vantage
point is good.. The Belgian Mario Aerts accellerates ahead of his
breakaway compatriots, and gains his third KoM victory of the day. That
means there's about 44 km to go for them.
ONCE seems to be more interested in gaining placings in the team
competiton, although they may be setting something up for Beloki on the
last climb.
In the large peloton, everyone on the USPS team except for Benoit
Joachim drive the pace. Their efforts put them within sight of the
Jalabert trio. Motorcycles are pulled from the gap as they all begin
to come together at the summit of the climb. A quick tap on the elbow
by USPS's Victor Hugo Pena and Laiseka realizes that their unaccompanied
situation has ended. The peloton goes under the summit banner just
under 8 minutes in arrears.
Frederick Guesdon has called it quits, climbing off at the top of the
last climb.
Peter Luttenberger has also gone away, although it is unclear whether
that occurred today.
Sastre's move to the front has moved him from 11th overall to 4th - he's
about 4:20 in front of the pertinent players. But, there is another
climb to go, and there are definitely Director Sportifs with
calculators...
Dario Frigo rolls over the Sprint point, focused on the 11 km climb
before him. Cowbells ring out in this region so close to Switzerland,
and they begin to hit the incline of the last climb on this stage.
A few minutes back, Sastre leads the other 8 others up the climb.
Moncoutier is the only other rider interested in helping in the effort,
as he is the highest placed French rider, which carries some weight down
at the local cafe.
Back in the main bunch, a reaction has occurred among the members of
Rabobank, whose fingers must move fastest over the time calculator
keypad. They begin to animate a chase, hoping to regain time on the 9
rider chase group that lies before them on the roadway.
28 km to go, and the threesome continue thumping out the uphill rhythm,
3:46 ahead of the 9 rider group. Moncoutier ticks out a strong climbing
cadence, trading off with Sastre who now sits right behind him. Serge
Baguet of Lotto gets picked up by the Rabobank-led main group, whose
numbers have been drastically lessened as the pitch increases. Sandy
Casar still dangles out by himself somewhere between the groups. Thor
Hushovd continues to stay strong in the 9 man group, after being reduced
to a babbling puddle of drool during the second stage's racing. He's
found his form and gained condition.
The most recent time check shows 3:41 to the chase group of 9 riders,
and 7:15 to the main group containing the Yellow Jersey.
Santiago Botero moves smartly away from the Armstrong group. "Battling
Bruno" Botero has moved away, getting a good gap as he powers away out
of the saddle and finds a rhythm that moves his bike quickly up in a
power. Botero picks up Sandy Casar, who jumps onto the Kelme rider's
wheel and tries to match pace. Botero continues rolling away up the
roadway after a minute or so, Casar is now back to wondering who will
ride past him next.
George Hincapie leads the main bunch, about 20 seconds behind Jose
Azevedo, who has scooted out to try to maintain his 4th place position
on the GC. The constant accelleration of the USPS, now led by Chechu
Rubiera has brought back Azevedo and quickly catches Casar. Botero's
pace has eaten into the chase group, and is exactly 6 minutes behind the
leader, he's exactly a minute out away from the leaders group, which
moves him ahead of Azevedo on the roadway.
Up front, Frigo sets the pace for a bit, seated and rolling over an
Ullrich-style gear. Guerini pulls through at a faster cadence. Aerts
bides his time and matches their efforts. The leading trio is a
kilometer away from the last summit of the day. If Aerts gets the final
points, he will move into second in the KoM competition. Not bad for a
Belgian! Highly distracting crowds - some wearing inflatable sharks and
others sporting natty fashions mixing speedos and camping boots - it
seems as if teh riders cannot even see the roadway through crowds. I
wonder if Guerini still has thh flinch from his head-on crash into
Eric-the-photographer a few years ago on Alp d'Huez. Aerts again rolls
over the summit in first position.
Behind them, Botero picks up Nozal and fires past him in a burst of
speed. Down in the drops and out of the saddle, his speed is
frightening.
Sastre and Moncoutier continue driving the pace of the 9, but they have
had their lead over the Armstrong group cut down to 2 minutes. Behind
them, Botero comes up behind teammate Guiterrez, who tries to raise his
pace to bring him up.
Over the crest, we follow the leading trio as they try to gain every
spec of speed - easily reaching 60 mph Aerts lead and Frigo in arrears.
The 9 person chase group is now missing some riders from both ends, as
Unai Osa raises the pace and pops off the front, cresting at 3:24 behind
the leading trio. Osa has managed about a 15 second gap over Sastre and
company. Off the back, Hushovd limps forward over the crest, and they
stop the team cars so Botero can crest and descend unmolested. Botero
has gone over at 4:09.
Boogerd pushes the pace over the top, Armstrong directly behind him,
followed by Beloki. Armstrong punches past him at 5:22, clearly he
wants to lead down the tortuous descent. Further down the hellishly
twisting final drop to the finish, Aerts has blown away from Frigo, who
cannot match the mad descending style.
Because its a French live feed, we get to jump back and see Virenque
leading a group of four over the crest, surviving and coming back about
7:09 with Andrea Peron.
Frigo makes a gravity-driven move and regains the other two on some
straighter bits of the roadway. Sastre & Moncoutier fly through the
turns, while some distance back, Botero makes himself into a green and
blue striped ball and gets the benefit of denser bones as he hurtles
along. 9 km to go for the leaders as the "autobus" go through the
crowded summit amidst cheers and cowbells.
Aerts manages to get gaps everytime the roadway twists. The two Italians
are flailing away on the straights, trying to limit their losses to the
flying Belgian. The moto camera is having trouble maintaining contact.
But, as the gradiant lessens slightly everyone comes back in contact
with the crazed Belgian descender. Aerts looks back as they approach 4
km to go, knowing that finishing tactics are what will win him the race
now. The second group numbers only 5 now, with Botero doing everything
he can to attach himself.
Frigo drives the pace under the 2 km to go banner, and hopefully they
know how tricky the finish is. There's a sharp left hand turn with 150
meters to go and still some undulations within the town.
With the 1 km to go banner just out of sight, Guerini fires out to try
for a gap. He fails, run down by Aerts, then goes again at 800 meters.
This time Guerini gains a gap and Aerts has him in his sights, but needs
to make a storng Time Trial style effort to regain his wheel. It takes
him a good 300 meters of effort to catch the Italian climber. Now
through another turn, Aerts moves to the inside of the turn and finds
himself at the front at the front of affairs without much roadway to go.
Now Frigo winds up his gear and rolls past him on the barriers, ducking
under outstretched cameras and probably a cell phone or two, and drives
strongly away to win the stage ahead of Aerts. Frigo is elated!
The chase group now includes Botero and they come under the 2 km to go
banner - driving the pace as hard as he can, he has a teammate -
Guitterez again! - and has a slight gap off the chase bunch. But the
speed continues to climb as others will not be dropped by the flying
Colombian. Everyone is together, and Botero has no cares for his stage
placing - seeking only more time over the main group, which will help
his GC standing.
What's this? A solo rider away in front of the chasers? Moncoutier has
slipped off the front somehow, outfoxing everyone on the descent and now
time trialing in a huge gear to move himself up the standings and hold
his "best Frenchman" position. At 500 to go, no one on his tail, but
the chasers not giving up, he snags fourth place. Botero drives the
field up his heels but won't catch him, Hushovd jumping ahead of the
chasing bunch to take 5th place.
The yellow jersey group led by Michael Boogerd runs up on the finish -
now down to 20 or so riders. They finish about 4 minutes in back of the
leaders, but only about a minute behind the Botero-led assault on the
GC.
Virenque's group of five stretch in about 6 and a half minutes down.
Small groups are spread all over the last climb, and will dribble in for
a bit.
A huge cry rises from the crowd as a big bunch including Laurent
Jalabert crosses the line. Clearly a crowd favorite, he will be missed
next season.
Stage 17 -
1 - Dario Frigo - Tacconi Sport - 4:02:27
2 - Mario Aerts - Lotto - @ s.t.
3 - Guiseppe Guerini - @ :02
4 - David Moncoutier - Cofidis - @ 2:55
5 - Thor Hushovd - Credit Agricole - @ 2:58
6 - Laurent Lefevre - Jean Delatour - @ s.t.
7 - Unai Osa - iBanesto.com - @ s.t.
8 - Marcos Serrano - ONCE - @ s.t.
9 - Jorg Jaksche - ONCE @ s.t.
10 - Carlos Sastre - CSC-Tiscali - @ s.t.
GC -
Malliot Juane - Lance Armstrong - 72 hrs 50:25
2 - Joseba Beloki - 5:06
3 - Ramondas Rumsas - 7:24
4 - Santiago Botero - 10:59*
5 - Jose Azevedo - 12:08
6 - Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano - 12:12
7 - Francisco Mancebo - 12:28
8 - Roberto Heras - 12:54
9 - Levi Leipheimer - 13:58
10 - Carlos Sastre - 14:49**
*Botero jumps up to fourth
**Sastre move up a couple minutes to 10th
If you have missed any of the race reports so far, they are archived at:
http://www.cyclofiend.com
-----
Stage 18 - Cluses to Bourg-en-Bresse - 176.5 km
Heading due west out of the Alps proper, Lance Armstrong has openly
stated that he fears this stage the most. There's a First Category
climb and six other serious peaks - a large number of variables on the
day. It's one of those days that a determined break could be difficult
to restrain or bring back. Bourg-en-Bresse is famous for its special
breed of chickens. It is not mentioned whether they are eatin'
chickens, feather chickens or egg-layin' chickens...vive la poulets!