[Tour 2004]Stage 13 - Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille

tour-junkie race-report@cyclofiend.com
Sat, 17 Jul 2004 09:09:55 -0700


If you woke up this morning and felt anything other than 100%, today would
seem to be the cycling equivilent of Dante's Inferno.  There will be nowhere
to hide as the road rises again and again.

The brutal facts:
km 42 - Col des Ares - 4.0 km at 4.7% - Cat 3
km 64 - Col du Portet d'Aspet - 4.4 km at 9.8% - Cat 2
km 99 - Col de la Core - 14.2 km at 6% - Cat 1
km 131 - Col de Latrape - 5.6 km at 7.7% - Cat 2
km 146 - Col d'Agnes - 9.8 km at 8.3% - Cat 1
km 155 - Port de Lers - 3.5 km at 5.7% - Cat 3
km 205 - Plateau de Beille - 15.9 km at 7.8% - HC

And you thought your Monday schedule looked bad.

Stage 13 - Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille - 205 km
The toughest part of today will be the finish climb of Hors Categorie
Plateau de Beille, which will see the riders toss their helmets 16 km before
the finish and then average 7.8% for the remainder of the course.  Tough you
say?
Consider the list above - it comes after  a Cagetory 1 climb at 146 km - the
Col d'Agnes, which is 9.8 km at 8.2% average.  Luckily, they will have a
warmup before that at 64 km - the 4.4 km Col du Portet d'Aspet - kicking
upwards at 9.8%, followed in pretty short order by the Col de la Core, which
is a 14.2 km pitch at a restufl 6%...  And I'm leaving out the category 3
climbs altogether...

As I said, the toothy critters have started started darting through the herd
and the carcasses have been left behind - So far today:

Former White Jersey winner Dennis Menchov of Illes Baleares has turned in
his number today and will not start.

Gone too are Gerrit Glomser of Saeco, Maryan Hary of La Boulangerie and last
year's 5th Place finisher, Haimar Zubeldia of Euskatel

>From the aerial photos, it is evident that Phonak's Tyler Hamilton has
abandoned the Tour. At kilometer 90, he has turned backwards on the course
towards his team car and waved a solemn goodbye to the other team directors
as he passed them. He had stated yesterday after the race that he had no
power, but gave no other excuses. Sadly, his Tour is now done.

Another solemn moment on the day as riders pass by the Fabio Casartelli
memorial on the side of the roadway.  The former Olympic gold medalist was a
teammate and freind of Lance Armstrong, and it seems that the Texan always
finds strength when he passes by this point near the Spanish border.

Quick Step's Tom Boonen hoes a furrow in the asphalt with his knee when his
stem suddenly snaps. No word on who the manufacturer is.

Fabian Wegman of Gerolsteiner has turned in his number and gotten his
cleaning deposit.

But there is an actual race going on amid the floating wreckage -
Ever attacking Jens Voight of CSC and Sylvan Chavanal of La Boulangerie
slipped away at kilometer 35, joined by Rabobank's Michael Rassmussen before
they Col du Portet d'Aspet. As they crest the summit of Col de la Core the
have managed a lead of 5:07

On a beautiful warm and sunny day, USPS sets the pace for the bunch, and
there have already been a increasing group of stragglers slobbering in their
wake. They are not pushing a crushing cadence, but the topography is taking
its toll.  As they aim for the crest, Richard Virenque is challenged for the
remaining climbing points first by Illes Baleares' Francisco Mancebo and
then Credit Agricole's Christophe Moreau.  Despite being boxed in on a
corner, Virenque finds a gap and fires ahead to gap both riders.  He and
Moreau trade a few comments as they begin to drop down the hairpins on the
far side of the climb.

======Crash on the descent
Liberty rider Roberto Heras is in the roadway with another teammate on the
inside of a hairpin turn.  As he stands, he seems to be checking his
collarbone.  But, evidently satisfied  that it's intact, he gets a new bike
and is paced back into the bunch.

Up the Col de la Trappe, the three leaders have edged out a bit to 5:40 -
there is still 77 km to go.

Euskatel rider Iban Mayo begins to drift back on the climb, he actually
seems to be unable to hold a group of riders who in turn have not been able
to match the pace of the serious contenders.  A couple of orangemen drop
back to pace him - then a third drifts back to cheer him onward. Mayo chats
on the radio for a minute or so.  They do begin to pick up a few riders, but
they are among the riders who will not factor in this stage, which does not
bode well if he wants to be a factor in this year's Tour.

Yellow Jersey wearing Thomas Voeckler again does his yo-yo imitation,
stretching away from the leading group and then snapping back up through the
bunch as he sprints to regain his position in the bunch. They are still a
kilometer from the crest, and again he drifts back. Jersey fully unzipped,
this rider who is showing such heart has reached very deeply inside himself
this Tour found reserves that he did not know he had, and will be a name to
consider in the future. Remember, this rider is also in possession of the
White Jersey for best young rider.

As the bunch hit the top of the climb, Virenque again hatchets the pedals,
assisted by teammate Palo Bettini they push Moreau behind them to net the
highest number of climbing points that the leading three have left them.

Up front, Sylvan Chavanal has won all of the other points, and has gone from
46th in the chase for polka-dots to 4th.

Mayo goes through another half minute behind the lead chase bunch. Paced by
three riders among some bigger boys from other teams who cannot match the
pace.  It will be interesting to see how he fares on the upcoming Col
d'Agnes, which has a couple nasty sections which kcik up at 12%.

As the leading group makes their way up the Col d'Agnes, Chavanal pulls too
hard on his extension cord and it slips from the outlet.  He slows as if he
has thrown out an anchor, and Voight works himself to a frenzy to hold the
wheel of the determined Rassmussen.

Voeckler is now in trouble again, and Mayo is reportedly already 2 minutes
behind the Armstrong group as they proceed ever upwards.

For those worried about my sleep patterns, I'll just share that today's
coverage began at 4 am with the prerace show, and the feed of live racing
began at 4:30.  Clearly, I am a target of marketing, as they feel  I'll be
more susceptible to solicitations for brush mowers and life alert systems at
this hour.  Data to support this opinion?  Since the coverage began an hour
and a half ago, there have been nearly 30 minutes of commercial breaks.

Tour Geek Tidbit: Voeckler has had more days in yellow than any Frenchman
since 1992.

Mayo now attempts to abandon.

He gets off his bike and walks it briefly.  His Team Director walks with him
as teammates roll along next to him.  Somehow, they coax him back upon a
different machine - maybe one with a touch lower gearing. Every rider nearby
puts a hand on his saddle to push him onwards.  Teammates and former
teammates all try to encourage him upwards - just to hang on until he finds
some reserves.

As they roll upwards, "luckily" the gears on the spare machine are not
adjusted properly, so Mayo "must" hold onto the team car while the mechanic
"fixes" the "problem".  Finally "adjusted" properly, he sets off again.

He is more than 5 minutes behind the Armstrong group.

At the head of the chasers, Mancebo makes a sharp move off the front -
immediately the USPS calmly raise the pace - there are 5 USPS riders at the
head of events - and Roberto Heras is sent out the back in short order with
a passel of other riders.  In the bunch still is Levi Leipheimer, Ivan Basso
and Jan Ullrich.  TThere are only about 20 or so riders in the "tempo" chase
group - which means that somewhere around 25% of the riders are Lance's
teammates.

Rassmussen leads Voight over the crest with a 3:44 gap to their ex-partner
Chavanal, and another minute in front of the serious chase group.  It should
be noted that the chase group is being paced by none other than George
Hincapie, who a few years back would've been back in the autobus by this
point.  In the chase group now is Gilberto Simoni, who had struggled briefly
on the climb.  

Virenque twists his chamois in a knot and springs ahead of the bunch and
stays ahead of Moreau for the climbing points.

Mayo is now 8 minutes behind Armstrong on the the climb. He's found a
semblance of cadence and continues to move upward.

The Yellow Jersey rides alone on the minor Port de Lers climb. He decended
like a stone to cut into the gap to the Armstrong group.  He was unable to
bridge the gap, but has cut down the gap a bit.

The Mayo group finally crests the previous climb, now running about 11
minutes behind Armstrong.

Voight and Rasmussen find themselves cresting Port de Lers, and Chavanal has
found a pace that works for him, arresting his backward tumble.  He's hung
on and now pulled a time back on his previous partners - he's 1:55 behind
them. 

The riders begin streaming down the narrowing switchbacks - Voeckler and
some other stragglers forming a phalanx of descenders who are risking more
than the Armstrong bunch.  The chase group swells as riders tack back on
while aided by gravity.  Chavanal is surrounded by the Floyd Landis-led
bunch as they sweep down the roadway.

Nothing like coming back from the commercial break to see Lance Armstrong at
the side of the roadway - he's removed his rear wheel and tosses it out of
the way.  By the time the mechanic launches himself out of the still-moving
team car, Lance is stretching his back slightly and looks as calm as can be.
Tire-with-air reinstalled, he pulls back out and easily reconnects with the
bunch.

The adjustment of the USPS to a different goal lets the breakaway pair move
their gap out to 4:23 with just under 20 miles to go.  They roll through the
valley and lose about a half minute in pretty short order.  Behind them, the
swollen chase group follows the pacemaking of the USPS.
The road continues flat for a short bit before a right-hand turn and date
with climbing destiny.

The helmets have flown off, so that means that the riders are on the climb
proper. Rassmussen and Voight have held onto a 2:35 lead.

Five USPS ridres are on the front, with Thomas Voeckler just behind.
Hincapie swings off and Floyd Landis  punches his timecard and does the same
- he's worked his shift.

The lead group squeezes down to 20 riders as Chechu Rubiera sets the pace.
Oscar Sevilla has been lopped off.  Moreau is suddenly off to the side of
the road with a flat and swaps rear wheels with a teammate - Botcharov - it
takes an unbeleiveably long time to lock in the rear wheel.  Voeckler begins
pedaling squares, as does Sylvan Chavanal.  Gone too are Sandy Casar, Juan
Mercado, Gilberto Simoni and Pietro Caucchioli.  Moreau sets a chunky rhythm
and begins to negotiate his way back up through the team cars.

The group has selected down to 11 riders - Leipheimer, Ullrich and Kloeden,
Basso, Periero, Totschnig are all in the bunch, and they are less than a
minute behind the Rassmussen/Voight combine.

Moreau pushes past Voeckler, who somehow manges to tack onto the helpful
wheel for a bit of the switchback.

Voight is caught and passed.

Ullrich is now on the back of the bunch, as is Leipheimer and Stephane
Goubert.  Jose Azevedo is the lst USPS rider on the front, grinding the
bones of Ullrich as the group splinters into three sections.  Basso and
Totschnig are the only men who can hang onto the wheel of Armstrong.

Rassmussen is caught and passed - he dumps out the back of every group who
reaches him.

There are only three riders left up front - Azevedo, Armstrong and Basso -
they pass under the 10 km to go banner.  Totschnig has faded back. Mancebo
and Kloeden work together next. Behind the stragglers, Ullrich sees to have
found a pace of slightly less pain, and leads a bunch of 4 riders including
Leipheimer.

Basso sits at the back of events, rocking a little bit more on the saddle
than he was yesterday.  Armstrong skips over his pedals with his smooth and
supple style. Azevedo views the world through a silent tunnel of personal
pain as he flawlessly executes his task of pace-setting.

Ullrich now rides alone - whether he's dropped back from the other riders or
dropped them is not clear.

Totschnig patiently thrums his rhythm, and seems to be working his way back
up toward the leaders.  Ullrich has indeed ditched the men he was with and
is trying to grind his big gear up to the leaders.

Up front, Azevedo has filled his dance card and moves off the front.
Armstrong has picked up the pace and begins his personal assault on the
stage.  He's out of the saddle, moving easily and checking the condition of
Basso.  They switch pacemaking against the heat and winds.

Azevedo has shut down the engine and drifts back to the pair of Kloeden and
Mancebo.  He picks up their wheel and wisely watches the German National
Champion - who at this point seesm to be more of a threat than Ullrich.

Speaking of the other German, he's gone 1:10 behind the leading pair.

Voeckler has already dropped 3 and a half minutes off - if things continue
at this rate, his days in yellow will be over.

The flippin' idiots are on the roadway - too damn close and too bloody
stupid.  They do everything but offer slices of pizza to the leaders.
Cameras get shoved into their faces.  It's worse than usual.

Thankfully, the motos aggressively begin to drive at the spectators who are
on the course, one of the passengers gives a hefty shove to one of the less
intellegent memebers of the dumbo brigade.

Basso looks a under a bit more pressure today, while Lance tries to head for
the race director's rear bumber.  Mancebo rides under the 3 km to go banner
with Totschnig about a couple hundre meters or so ahead of him.  It looks
like Kloeden has been able to hang with Mancebo, but Azevedo has drifted
away.

Ullrich now throbs under the 3 km, his big diesel engine not quite as well
suited to the climb.

A sea of orange t-shirts, hats and the inevitable Basque flags press at
least 5 or six deep on the edge of the roadway - they have all been waiting
to perhaps see the Mayo assault on the summit, but can only cheer for either
Armstrong or Basso. I realize that the telephoto lens from the helicopter
tends to compress the distance, but it's hard to see how the riders can
thread their way between them.  With 2 km to go, the two leaders are finally
in among the barriers, and they have room to move.

The climb flattens slightly as they hit the last bits, and they need to work
to keep the pressure on and maintain the time gap.  This incline will begin
to favor Ullrich's massive power.

Vooekler has a gap of 4:10, can only afford to lose one and a half more
minutes if he wants to keep his jersey.

Basso leads under the 1 km to go banner, clearly suffering, but still moving
in his long-legged smooth pedaling style.  Armstrong has him marked, and to
underscore his confidence, with 500 to go, Armstrong sits on his saddle and
zips up his jersey...

At the 200 meter, Armstrong's right hand twitches on the shifters and he
taps it up a couple of gears. He rises smoothly from the saddle and attacks
hard, instantly gaps Basso and takes the stage - his first inidividual
victory of this year's Tour!

Tick-tick goes the clock and we'll see what happens....

Ullrich is shown just going under the 1 km to go banner.  Totschnig is all
open jersey and gaping mouth - comes in 1:06.  Kloeden leads Mancebo around
the last corner 1:27 back.

Ullrich tips up a gear as the road, and tries to will himself over the line,
his face an utter mask of pain and effort, he finishes 2:42 back

With the time bonus that Armstrong has gained from the victory, Voeckler
needs to cross the line within five minutes and 4 seconds of Armstrong's
time.  The clock is at 3:30.

Now Gilberto Simoni rolls in alone at 3:43 - not a bad effort for someone
who wanted to take his toys and go home early.

Voeckler is all over the road, though his face shows a touch less pain than
yesterday.  He knows he has done it - crosses the line at 4:40 - he will
maintain the yellow jersey another day!

But, the domination of this stage by the incredibly strong USPS is without
question. The boys in blue were at the head of events for nearly the entire
200 km today - and some folks were wondering why they didn't try to defend
the jersey after winning the TTT.  These two days hopefully give a sense of
the targeted nature of their efforts.


Stage 13 Results - 
1 - Lance Armstrong - 6:04:38
2 - Ivan Basso - s.t.
3 - Georg Totschnig - 1:06
4 - Andreas Kloeden - 1:27
5 - Francisco Mancebo - s.t.
6 - Jan Ullrich - 2:42
7 - Jose Azevedo - 2:50
8 - Christophe Moreau - 2:51
9 - Pietro Caucchioli - s.t.
10 - Gilberto Simoni - 3:43

An interesting appearance in the top 20 is that of Axel Merckx, who finished
5:56 behind Armstrong in 14th place.

General Classification
MJ - Thomas Voeckler - La Boulanngerie - 58:00:27
2 - Lance Armstrong - USPS - :22
3 - Ivan Basso - CSC - 1:39
4 - Andreas Kloeden - T-Mobile - 3:18
5 - Francisco Mancebo - Illes Baleares - 3:28
6 - Georg Totschnig - Gerolsteiner - 6:08
7 - Jose Azevedo - USPS - 6:43
8 - Jan Ullrich - T-Mobile - 7:01
9 - Pietro Caucchioli - Alessio 0- 7:59
10 - Sandy Casar - FDJeux.com - 8:29
also:
14 - Levi Leipheimer - Rabobank - 10:47

Post Race:
Tyler spoke briefly as he stepped into his team car.  As he slipped out of
his jersey, the bruises and bandages are clearly evident.  He seems as wrung
out as one could be - and commented that he is unable to use his lower back
while climbing, a near impossible task.  Rather than continue to damage his
form, he elected to leave to race.

The other story of the day is of course Thomas Voeckler's defense of the
Yellow Jersey.  His efforts  and tenacity have amazed all who are watching
this Tour, and everyone from the orange-wearing Basques to the most strident
French fan has cheered his efforts.


Tomorrow's Stage - Carcassonne to Nimes - 192 km
I don't know where they found the dead-flat-calm topography for this stage,
but there are a number of riders who will rejoice - or at least may stop
bleeding from their eyes. There may be a speed bump or something halfway
through, but this is as unlike the previous stage as could be achieved.
Nothing at this point of the race is easy, but at least the racers are not
heading upwards.


  They will have to be wary of the winds which characterize this region.

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