[Tour 2002]- Stage 18

[CycloFiend Tour Addict]

Stage 18 - Cluses to Bourg en Bresse - 176.5 km

"Yer either up or yer down..."

No level bits to today's stage, as 7 categorized climbs lie before the
riders.  While certainly nothing as nasty as what has been beating up
the riders over the past few days, the muscle memory of the riders have
to be having flashbacks every time the gradiant changes.

Which gives rise  to a successful breakaway, who began their efforts
somewhere near kilometer number four. They now are enjoying a gap of
7:37, with around 45 km to go.  Nicki Sorensen from CSC-Tiscali is the
best placed rider at some 37 minutes back.  The complete breakaway
contains:
Jakob Piil - CSC-Tiscali
Thor Hushovd - Credit Agricole
Erik Dekker - Rabobank
Gian Matteo Fagnini - Telekom
Nicki Sorensen - CSC-Tiscali
Christophe Mengin - FDJeux.com
Jorg Jaksche - ONCE
Leon Van Bon - Domo
Nicola Loda - Fassa Bortolo
Thierry Loder - Ag2R

Not signing in today: Frederic Guesdon of FDJeux.com, Christophe
Edalaine off Jean Delatour and one other rider.  That still leaves the
peloton with its potentially largest finishing field in several years.
This is, afterall, the shortest Tour since 1905.  Certainly, it is not
the easiest.

40 km to go, the gap sitting around 8 minutes.

USPS rolling up and down - Floyd Landis brings a jerseyful of bottltes
back up to the workers on the front. He fumbles the pass off to the
third rider and drops one which luckily does not take out his team and
Tour leader...  Behind them, there are a ton of sufferin' B's dragging
themselves up the hills and narrow lanes.  Honestly, they do not seem
too interested in picking the breakaway back up.

It is a beautiful day and warm weather once again, and the breakaway
rolls along on the slopes of the Category 2 Col du Berthiand, covering
the last major climb of the day, and the breakaway partners seem to be
able to match one anothers' cadence and effort.  As soon as I write that
line, the hill begins to hurt, and they split under an attack by
Jaksche.  Thor Hushovd, looking leaner after 17 stages, scrambles with
Dekker and Piil to cut the gap - first to Van Bon who is sitting midway
in the gap and then back up to the first group who sit up the roadway,
away by about 15 seconds

Loda has fallen away from the group, and is out of sight on the roadway.

In the leading bunch, Mengin, Jaksche, Fagnini, Sorensen and Loder try
to push the pace.  Everyone but Fagnini is unhappy with the split they
caused, because the Telekom leadout man admittedly will leave them all
in his wake if there's a sprint finish.

Behind, Dekker now takes up the pace with about 1 km to the summit,
sharply cutting the distance to Van Bon, and draws a bead on 5 ahead. As
they crest the summit, the gap has been cut down to 6 seconds.  Those
who straggled, should pass along a big thanks for Dekker's effort, which
cut down the distance and has put them back into the race.

The average speed of the peloton over the 17 stages so far has been 39.9
km/hr, down a bit from the fastest Tour ever -  40.279 in 1999

The peloton works its way up the climb, now easing themselves toward the
summit nearly 9:33 behind.

Dekker suddenly pummels the pedals and zooms up the roadway.  He eases
up as Jaksche, Sorensen and Mengin catch him.  Dekker now fades off the
pace as they head up another climb - not ranked - and folds himself back
into the group with Husholvd and Fagnini.  They all begin to suffer
openly as this little rise bites more deeply. Mengin notches into a
strong climbing pace as Jaksche and Sorenson set in behind him.  They
continue moving away from the chasers and the instigator.  19 km to go,
and the trio realize that it is worth suffering to see if they can make
a go of it, having dropped the sprint threat of Fagnini.  They've gained
8 seconds over the chase group of 6.

In the nearby field, a herd of 9 cows show off their speed, but their
jerseys don't exactly match and they cannot quite equal the speed of the
peloton.  But, they are French, so they may get a wildcard spot in next
year's Tour.

Up at the head of the race, the undulations of the roadway are the
excuse to launch an attack from the chasers, as Van Bon and Dekker lead
the jump which causes a regrouping. Nine riders again eye one another
and again formulate plans on how to break the legs and will of one
another.  One the next rise, Piil moves up the road, Hushovd and Mengin
give a massive effort to leap ahead and join them.  The Nordic-led trio
gain 18 seconds.  In the new trailing 6, Dekker and Van Bon set the pace
but are losing time and tuck in behind the effort of Fagnini. They seem
to be having trouble matching the escapees speed.

The peloton rolls under the 20 km to go banner almost exactly 11:00
behind.  They are pedaling.

Where the race is...I don't know...happening?...the lead group of  3
have stretched their lead out to 27 seconds.

Hushovd presses the pace, testing the other's resolve, as the Devil
whisks past on the right hand side of the roadway.  The trio sweep under
the 10 km to go banner and head downhill with a 40 second lead over the
bunch.  Mengin sets the pace now as the three riders scream along the
roads of the Ceyzeriat, another town who has every inhabitant out on the
roadway.  They smoothly trade efforts, and Piil looks to be suffering
the worst of the three.  Mengin seems pretty poised, he is the former
French champion, and has a background in cyclocross - which may make him
the favorite in the bunch.  Hushovd is an extremely powerful rider, but
his youthful enthusiasm keeps him sticking his nose out into the wind to
make pace.  That may work against him when the it comes time for the
sprint.

2 km to go, into the streets of the town, without any dinking around.
Mengin reaches down and tweaks the straps on his shoes, ready for the
impending sprint.  Mengin again on the front, Hushovd and Piil roll past
him

Waaaay back in another county, O'Grady has jumped away from the
peloton... the day's sprint points on his mind, no doubt.

Hushovd in the lead, and the sprint tactics begin.  Ziggzagging across
the roadway, Mengin in the middle.  Hushovd waiting, looking back to
know where everyone is at 500 meters.  Now Mengin takes a last look way
back, to make sure that they will not be suddenly caught by the
chasers.  They run up the barriers on the outside of a sweeping wide
turn toward the finish.  At the back, Piil suddenly rises and gets ready
to blow out and ahead unseen - but he pops his foot out!  Sensing the
attack, Hushovd hammers home, Mengin moving up and trying to get any
extra speed. Very close on the line!  Mengin throws his bike, but
Hushovd throws his arms up as they roll over the line, continuing to
celebrate as they roll past the .  He thinks he's won, but it seems too
close to call.  Slo-Mo shows him the winner!
Credit Agricole nails their first stage of the Tour. Not bad for the
rider who lost over 19 minutes after cramping and bonking on Stage 2!
The first Norwegian winner since Dag-Otto Lauretzen's win 15 years ago
for the 7-11 squad.

The peloton begins to raise the pace, reacting both to the gap of
O'Grady and the proximity of a shower and massage.  They have enough
speed to send a sufferin' rider or two out the back.

900 to go USPS up on the front.  As they roll under the 1 km to go
banner, the boys in blue peel back to the safety of the non-sprinting
end of the peloton.  Telekom winds up the dynamo, as Danilo Hondo takes
over the front and pushes up the pace with Telekom teammate Stephan
Weseman just behind him.  Jan Svorada interupts the parade of pink
sitting just ahead of  Erik Zabel, but Robbie McEwen in the Green Jersey
sits directly behind him.  Hondo peels off, and Weseman cranks up the
pace another notch.  He rolls off to the left and Svorada digs deep to
distance the German.  Baden Cooke pushes his up toward the front, but
neither are going to find the line first. Zabel notches up the reactor
and punches past them.  Now, R obbie McEwen fires away around Zabel's
right shoulder and lights the afterburners.  Cooke and Svorada won't
die, and  four riders try to squeeze into a space for two as the line
whisks underneath.  Zabel looks over and sees that McEwen has just
managed to pip ahead and gain another point.  McEwen has no one to lead
him out - the remaining Lotto boys sitting somewhere back in the group,
and has to wait for the German to sprint and use his phenomenal sprint
speed to accellerate around him.   O'Grady, who must've been caught
without us seeing it and is off to the side, throws his bike at the
line, and either nabs third (ok...actually 13th) or second (yeah, 12th)
in the group. McEwen clearly was the fastest, but the second spot in the
group will go to the photos - which unfortunately, they don't share with
the viewing public as the day's coverage ends....

Stage 18 -
1 - Thor Hushovd - Credit Agricole
2 - Christophe Mengin - FDJeux.com
3 - Jakob Piil - CSC-Tiscali  - :05
--
4 - Leon Van Bon - :33
5 - Jorg Jaksche - :33
6 - Nicki Sorensen - :33
7 - Gianmatteo Fagnini - :40
8 - Erik Dekker - :40
9 - Thierry Loder - :40
--
10 - Nicola Loda - 6:59
--
11 - Robbie McEwen - 12:02


GC - No Changes from Yesteday
Malliot Juane - Lance Armstrong 77 hrs 30:35
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

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

http://www.cyclofiend.com

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Stage 19 - Regnie-Durette to Macon - Individual Time Trial - 50 km
Not much to say. Lance has always stated that the race leader needs to
show that he's the strongest man in the peleton.  Botero beat him on the
roads Lorient back on Stage 9.  There's no reason to save any efforts
now.  And this TT begins with a six km, 1000 foot climb up the Category
3 Cote du Fut d'Avenas, before sharply descending and heading over
roling roads to the finish.  I'd say he might have some inspriation to
win, plus the topography to assist him.