[Tour 2004]Stage 6 - Bonneval to Angers

[tour-junkie]

Stage 6 - Bonneval to Angers - 196 km
Potentially one for the fast men again - Not even a categoriezed climb as
the riders continue to head southwest into France.  The USPS will be content
to let Voeckler enough a day in Yellow, and see how the battle for the Green
Sprint Points Jersey shapes up.

Unfortunately, this has been a year for crashes - quite understandable given
the howling winds and slick roads. Though the sun seems to rule the day,
winds are still evident. Things aren't as slippery, but the riders will have
to keep alert.

The big news items today is that Lance has stated he will not compete in the
Olympics this summer. OK, not _big_ news, but some news.  Of course,
probably subject to updates and changes depending upon what happens on the
roads of France. It sounds more like he's simply maintaining focus on the
task at hand. Currently, he sits at 6th overall, having been pushed back to
9:35 behind the Yellow Jersey.  Other challengers remain at the earlier
comparative gaps - everyone having been shuffled back by the 5 breakaway
members from yesterday.

As soon the flag goes up today, a crash ripples through the field - catching
a few members of the USPS, including Lance Armstrong. Though always a
concern, everyone gets back and rolling without any apparant damage.

While Lance notches himself back into the peleton, a group of 6 riders move
away. 

44 - Juan Antonio Flecha - Fassa Bortolo
62 - Kurt-Asle Arveson - CSC
95 - Jimmy Engoulvent - Cofidis
133 - Alesandro Bertolini - Alessio
155 - Marc Lotz - Rabobank
164 - Carlos Da Cruz - FDJeux.com

They gain a gap of 4:24 - although no one appears supremely dangerous,
Flecha is a strong rider who won a stage last year.

Only 179 riders started today, with both of the marquee names not starting
today: Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini.  Petacchi had a  bad crash
yesterday, saying that he felt his should pop out as he hit the tarmac.
Cipollini has suffered both through numerous crashes, catch-ups and cold
weather since the beginning.  A true shame, especially after all the
pressure which Cipo tried to put on the race organizers to be included in
the event.  

With 90 km to go, the breakaway group pushes into a headwind, losing a bit
of their gap as the peleton keeps them now around 4 minutes.  La Boulangerie
has stayed on the head of events, shadowed by the USPS.

The slightly damp roadway shows that weather has continued to remain
unsettled - the rain capes have stayed in the team cars, however, as the
rains seems to have preceeded the race.

Lotto chips in a bit with the pacemaking, and they do begin to squeeze the
gap again - not a chase in earnest, just enough to simplify things whe they
make the decision to make it a sprint finish.

Well, I take s short break to feed the dog and return to find the gap has
pushed back to 4:23 at 65 km to go - meanwhile, the peleton finds themselves
in a sudden downpour.

In the breakaway bunch, Carlos Da Cruz fires ahead of Kurt Arveson to nab
his second set of maximum Sprint points for the day, and the accompanying 6
second time bonus.

Above the main bunch, the skies have cleared just as suddenly.  With the
drying comes the increased effort of sprinters' teams.  Ag2R, Lotto,
Quik-Step, Gerolsteiner and La Boulangerie all click into position and pull
through with some degree of seriousness. They slice about a minute off of
the break lead, now at 3:19.  The entire peleton is stretched out in
earnest, no more than 2 or 3 riders wide as they scream through the curves
of the roadway.

The sun seems to have come out in earnest, with 52 km to go, the breakaway
still works well together as they sweep past the cheering spectators. Still,
their gap continues to come down - now 2:42.

It's interesting to see that the "pecking order" remains fairly consistent
in the peleton.  The Orangemen from Euskatel always seem to be positioned at
the front left of the bunch, while Phonak is on the other side. Saeco cannot
seem to get anywhere other than mid-pack.  It's interesting to see the
tenacity of Euskatel - despite the significant deficit at which Iban Mayo
finds himself, they continue to work to keep him up front and away from the
potential problems.

40 km finds the breakaway with a 2:29 lead.  Sign of the day seems to be
"Allez Voeckler", which has appeared repeatedly in the background all of
France rejoice in the home rider on the home team who wears yellow.

The gap clicks down to about 2 minutes now with 5 km more under the wheels.
Another commercial breaks find that gap pushed down another 20 seconds, as
the breakaway nears th final sprint point for the day.

Today's finish is a bit tricky, with a definitely uphill to the final drag,
following a sharp turn with 400 meters to go.  Though it makes for a dynamic
set of images, you just wonder why the organizers feel the need to introduce
such potentials for disaster.

In the breakaway, riders begin to dink around for tactical postion for the
Sprint point.  Meanwhile, Engoulvent fires off the front and immediately
gains a gap.  The others will duke it out for the dregs this time.  After
they get past the sprint point, Arveson begins pedaling squares and
Bertollini is no longer able to remain connected. Thus the breakaway is
reduced to a true Gang of Four, clinging to 1:39 gap with 22 km to go.

Arveson & Bertollini have drifted back 30 seconds or so toward the bunch.
Then, just as quickly, they are caught.

The Lotto/Ag2R combo continue shoulder the bulk of the effort to catch,
while Quik-Step works to position the Belgian phenom Tom Boonen.  The break
has increased intensity and pressure on the pedals, and are managing to hold
the tenuous 1:40 gap.  They may be benefitting from a bit of tailwind.

With 14 km to go, the gap is at 1:18 - it may just be one of the ugly
catches within sight of the finish.  But, the breakaway is still keeping
maximum effort as they strain for the outskirts of the town of Angers.  The
faces on the chasing men clearly show the efforts which are required.

10 km finds the gap at 40 seconds. The break battles, but the chasers can
see their tires in the distance.  Even with the wild efforts of the pack,
the urgent efforts of the breakaway continue.

7 km with 21 seconds gap.

Behind them the USPS and Phonak riders position themselves near the front as
well. Roundabouts and traffic furniture will give a bit of trouble to the
pack.

Here goes Flecha with 3.7 miles to go!  He gains a gap as the others finally
do not answer his effort.  This is a great move by Flecha!  The roads are
twisting through town and the Spaniard gets out of sight around th curves.
Flecha has pushed his gap back out to 17 seconds, absolutely committed with
4 km to go.  The crowds along the roadway are a blur as he screams past the
barriers and rolls under th 3 km banner.  The sprinters' teams can't quite
decide how to prepare for their sprint while attempting to nail Flecha back.

But the gap dwindles - 2 km finds his gap closed to 9 seconds. Behind,
T-Mobile pushes to the front to get a chance for Erik Zabel.

Just as quickly, Flecha is caught as they fly under the 1 km to go banner

=========
Crash in the field!
Just at the 1 km to go banner, everything comes to a halt and many riders
are tangled and down.

Only 20 or 30 riders are up and going to the finish.  Quick-Step's Tom
Boonen comes around the corner and just explodes away from the bunch.
Stuart O'Grady makes a late move, but there's no way he can follow the
flying Belgian. Zabel pushes toward the line and nips Danilo Hondo.

But the wreckage behind is extensive - riders are rising slowly and limping
to the finish - None of the heads of state are in evidence until  George
Hincapie leads in Armstrong.  A huge number of riders are picking themselves
up and rolling easily into the finish. Since the crash occurred within 1 km
of the finish, the race officials should give everyone the same time.

A Gerolsteiner rider is still crumpled on the side of the road at the base
of the metal barriers.  Robbie McEwen has a significant amount of skin
showing on his left buttock, luckily obscured by a grapefruit-sized road
rash. Unfortunately, the Green Jersey will be ripped from his back as well,
as O'Grady's second place finish gives him the points to take over in that
competition.

The view at the finish line shows Tyler Hamilton and his Phonak squad as
they ferry him in.  A minute or so later, Gilberto Simoni is pushed forward
by his Saeco squad.  Ullrich must have slipped past the cameras earlier.
Unfortunately, this has been another reasonably ugly finish at a crash-prone
Tour.

Stage 6 - Results
1 - Tom Boonen - Quick-Step - 4:33:31
2 - Stuart O'Grady - Cofidis
3 - Erik Zabel - T-Mobile
4 - Danilo Hondo - Gerolsteiner
5 - Baden Cooke - FDJeux.com
all riders s.t.

General Classification -
1 - Thomas Voeckler - La Boulangerie - 24:37:30
2 - O'Grady - @3:13
3 - Casar - @4:06
4 - Backstedt - @6:03
5 - Piil - @ 6:58

Tomorrow's Stage - Chateaubriant to Saint-Brieuc - 204 km
Probably another for the sprinters, with only two Categorized climbs on the
day.  Nothing sharp or terribly long - the 1 km at 6% Cote de Saint-Aide
climb comes with about 50 km to go when the peleton will take a sharp left
turn to follow the coastline - probably not steep enough or close enough to
the finish to cause a selection, so the sprinters should come out to play.

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