[Tour 2004]Stage 8 - Lamballe to Quimper

[tour-junkie]

Despite the report of yesterday, Rene Hasselbacher may have gotten a bit of
bum rap.  The slow-motion replay from a camera located just under the  1 km
to go "Red Kite" would suggest that there was an overreaction to the slowing
Juan Antonio Flecha, who had just been caught by the bunch. Hasselbacher
certainly caught the worse of it.  But, given where he was positioned, it's
hard to see how he could have nicked the barriers. It appeared more likely
that there was a sudden slowinng in front of him that he could not react to
- clipping wheels and going over.  It was an ugly fall, with many riders
sacrificing skin to the topography. Phonak leader Tyler Hamilton was seen
voicing his displeasure yesterday to race director Jean-Marie Le Blanc.  He
(among others) favors taking the finishing time at 3 km to go on these
sprint finishes, so that the GC contenders teams do not need to add to
crunch to the line.

99 riders were reported to have been on the sought medical assistance as of
yesterday - clearly this has been a year of the crash again.

One accident I didn't report yesterday was that of Gerolsteiner rider Sven
Montgomery, who broke his collarbone in a nasty tumble early in the goings.

Another pre-race point: I'll have to check, but I also believe that I've
been misspelling "peloton" repeatedly up until now...

Stage 8 - Lamballe to Quimper - 168 km
A shorter stage may sound like blessed releif, but this one has a few stings
for the legs along the way.  After a quick sprint point at the 14 km mark,
the riders have two climbs in quick succession - the nasty little Cote de
Mur de Bretagne - a 1.6 km climb averaging 8.4% - and the Cote de Saint
Mayeux which is not quite as steep, but almost as long. The rolling
topography of the Brittany region continues, with two more short but
categorized climbs and a bunch of rolling hills between the rides and the
finish.  There will be continually rollling hills and when things flatten
out, a westerly wind will prey on the riders today. If the teams had to be
alert yesterday, wait'll today.

Lotto's sprint ace Robbie McEwen moved away and grabbed second in the early
points sprint today.  Strangley absent was Stuart O'Grady, who therefore has
lost the Green Jersey on the road at this point.

At the 16 km mark, a breakaway has formed with the ever-present CSC rider
Jacob Piil, plus Fassa Bortolo's Matteo Tosattao and Gerolsteiner's Ronny
Schotz.  They've skipped away to a maximum of 5:53, but they seem to now
have caught the attention of the peloton.

Ag2R sprinter Jan Kirsipuu has been suffering like a dog today, yo-yoing out
the back of the bunch when the roadway turns upward.

The roads are narrow and the skies are grey and weeping slightly as we
cvurve through Brittany. USPS and T-Mobile are content to let La Boulangerie
handle the pacemaking, reminding them that they do have the Yellow Jersey
and thus part of the responsibility of fetching the errant riders. With 47
miles to go, the gap has notched down just a touch to 5:46.

Winds seem to be rising, and will probably be close to a headwind.  It's
certainly becoming more of a damp and nasty day over this part of the
course. Rain has begun to show on camera lenses.  The bunch have decided to
warm themselves up, assisted by the efforts of Domina Vacanza and the group
has strung out significantly and they've chopped a bit more than a minute
off of the lead as the breakaway hits the the sprint point at
Carhaix-Plouguer.

Rain capes continue to come out and spray begins to fly into the faces fo
the riders. They grind up a rise, a mass of soggy lycra and furrowed brows.
But, they have managed to bring things back to 3:09 with about 52 km to go.
Regardless of the rains, spectators in this cycling-crazy region of France
continue to line the course shoulder to shoulder.

With 25 miles or so, the gap has come down another 15 seconds, but the main
bunch is still making a bit of a meal of it.  The continually rolling
topography may be working to the benefit of the break, although there are
still some miles to cover.  Shots from the finish line show dry roads, but
the lead bunch still are still finding that continuing creeping sogginess in
their chamois.

6-time Mountain Jersey winner Richard Virenque finds his front tire a bit
soft and pulls over to get a quick tire change.  The long-time pro even
takes a second to pull the front tire out, so the scrambling mechanic needs
only to slap in the new wheel.  Virenque is in the hunt for an all-time
record 7th Polka Dot Jersey.

At the other end of the peloton, La Boulangerie riders have managed to
sucker Domina Vacanza rider Francesco Secchiari to spearhead the chase for
some time now.   The support team of Yellow Jersey wearing Thomas Voeckler
is working hard enough to keep the breakaway riders in check, but wisely no
harder. So, the gap is remaining at 2:35 even though they are close to 18
miles from the finish.

Personally, I think that Piil deserves to take a stage, if only because he
has been putting himself into a huge number of breaks.  Phil mentions that
he's been out on attacks for nearly half of the 1100 kilometers that the
riders have covered.

The troika has hit the lower bits of the final categorized climb on the day
- a long, yet shallow rise: 4.7 km at 3.5%.  The riders seem to be bringing
the rain with them.

Now Virenque pushes against a flattening rear tire.  Another quick change
puts him back on the way even before the last of the team cars go by.

The riders continue to go through a huge crowd on the way to the peak,
having stretched their lead back out to 3 minutes exactly.  They work
together well as the road begins to flatten and descend.

Behind the Quik-Step riders begin to get antsy at the gap, with Credit
Agricole dipping into the rotation as well.  Their speed over the climb is
significantly higher, and they take a full minute out of the chase by the
time they hit the 25 km to go banner.  As they move in quick rotation, the
trident of the devil is just visible over their heads - a strangley calming
image of consistency all of these many years.

Seconds continue to disappear as the main field continues to tap out an
ever-increasing rhythm.  The gap is geting pushed down to just over a minute
now. Roads are drying and somehow the crowds somehow continue increasing as
we get within 10 miles of town.

Up front, George Hincapie and Vjatchislav Ekimov take the strategic position
for Lance, who wisely pushes up to the front of events as the roads begin to
get goofy with roundabouts and center islands.  Gaps grow in the peloton
under the pressure of "those who tow Lance".

The hurtling chasers have the break in sight now - they are a mere 30
seconds ahead now.  Rain has begun to fall at the finish line, and service
cars are being pulled out of the gap.  They've been out for about 144
kilometers, but the thundering herd is almost upon them.  Their daily jaunt
ends at almost exactly 10 km to go. With the bunch back together, the
specifics of the finish become important:
With 250 meters to go, there's a sharp left hand corner at the finish.  Just
before that, there's a sharp climb which could serve as a launchpad for the
aggressive.  

===== Crash in the field
8 or 9 riders near the end of the bunch find themselves creating a modern
art installation - working in the medium of bike frames and bodies.  A
couple of spectators even seem to get tangled up in the riders who have
tumbled into the gutter.

Samuel Dumoulin of Ag2R is sitting in a heap in the center of the roadway -
the lack of activity a giveaway that he's done some more significant damage.
He eventually gets back on his machine, and limps along next to his team
car, body positioned at a bad and ungainly angle as he tries to at least
reach the finish.

Meanwhile, up front, the bunch continue to stretch things out - Quick-Step
Aussie Michael Rogers drives the pace at 2 km to go, ready to set up
teammate Tom Boonen.  The road keep geting thinner around the center islands
and an Iles Baleares rider makes a go for it, hoping to capitalize on the
confusion in the bunch. At the other end, Janek Tombak hits the pavement and
will not be contesting this sprint.  It's crazy fast as the bunch snakes
through the curves and roundabouts.

Quick-Step rider Paolo Bettini sets up and hits the sharp climb first with a
furious turn of speed, Robbie McEwen shadowing him immediately.  They gain
daylight and continue to move well.  They've gained a gap but Bettini sits
up and dinks around just enough trying to get McEwen to pull through that
the Euskatel Orangemen lead the bunch back up to them.
Bettini seriously screw up what seemed to be a strong break, but he's a
seasoned enough rider to know that towing a strong sprinter to the finish is
only a good idea if he's wearing the same jersey as you are.

Kim Kirchen fires away - the Luxembourg National Champ riding for Fassa
Bortolo gains a gap and tries to keep away.  He may have timed this well, as
the nervous peloton slows to safely negotiate the 90 degree left hand turn.

Some riders are not cowed by the slippery pavement, Thor Hushovd sees blood
and whips up the watts in a perfectly timed move to first gap the casing
riders and then blow past Kirchen.  He slaps his Norwegian national jersey
and coasts over the line arms in the air - stage winner today!

Stage Results - 
1 - Thor Hushovd - Crdit Agricole - 3:54:22
2 - Kim Krichen - Fasa Bortolo
3 - Erik Zabel - T-Mobile
4 - Robbie McEwen - Lotto
5 - Andreas Kloden - T-Mobile
6 - Tom Boonen - Quick-Step
7 - Laurent Brochard - Ag2R
8 - Stuart O'Grady - Cofidis
9 - Oscar Periero - Phonak
All riders s.t.

General Classification -
1 - Thomas Voeckler - La Boulangerie - 29:09:14
2 - O'Grady - @3:13
3 - Casar - @4:06
4 - Backstedt - @6:03
5 - Piil - @ 6:58

Tommorow - 
Rest Day/Transfer Day.  The riders will jump down to the south, preparing
for a hike up into the Pyrenees.  The French National Champion will hold the
Yellow Jersey as they reach the first rest day.  McEwen pulls the Green
Jersey back onto his shoulders.

Tuesday's Stage - 
Stage 9 - St. Leonard de Noblat/Gueret
Riders leave from the hometown of Raymond Poulidor, the much loved rider who
competed in 14 Tours, finished on the podium 8 times and yet never managed
to pull on the Yellow Jersey by the end. The topography will kick up a bit,
though there are only two categorized climbs.  Still there are a number of
changes in elevation, with some sharp uncategorized climbs and rolling bits,
perhaps favoring an aggressive break.  But, the final 50 km are calmer, and
the sprinters will not have much time to shine in the next few days, so they
may have an added impetus to fetch any escapees.


-- 
You are receiving this email from the Tour-Junkie at Cyclofiend.
http://www.cyclofiend.com

If you are a new subscriber and want to see earlier reports, they are
archived here:
http://lists.cyclofiend.com/pipermail/race-report/2004-July/thread.html

To subscribe, unsubscribe or to change any of your information, please visit
the "Race-Report" info page:
http://lists.cyclofiend.com/mailman/listinfo/race-report

All rights reserved - copyright by Jim Edgar 2004

Permission granted to circulate this publication via manual forwarding by
email to friends, providing that the text is forwarded in its entirety and
no fees are charged.

Questions or comments can be sent to this email address, or to
editor@cyclofiend.com