[Tour 2005]Stage 11 - Courchevel - Briancon

[race-report@cyclofiend.com]

Stage 11 - Courchevel - Briancon - 173 km
Another day of potential damage and probable pain in high altitude.
Armstrong will wear his 72nd Yellow Jersey as the day begins deceptively
easily, heading downhill from the city of Courchevel to climb the first
Haute Categorie climb of the Tour - the Col de la Madeleine, then a
one-two pummeling of the Cat 1 Col du Telegraphe and the HC Col du
Galibier. Though the potential for more wreckage is great, the finish
sits another 40 km beyond in Briacon, at the end of a potentially
rider-collecting downhill.


Again in the mountains. What the legs must feel like today for these
riders. But, nature does what what it can to assist, providing a
beautiful sunny day and a downhill start.

Two riders decided that all sounds good enough to try to leverage a bit
of time and rsults, so Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd and Ag2R's Sammy
Dumoulin - truly a Mutt and Jeff pair - have moved out to a 5 minute lead.

The Tour continues to test Tom Boonen, as the Quick-Step rider whapped
the roadway on the downhill which began right at the start. Though a bit
shaken, the Green Jersey holder regained the field after a bit of hard
descending.

Dario Frigo has not started the day. Though there's been no official
announcement or confirmation about this by the Tour Organizers, reports
have said that his wife was arrested at the border with illegal
substances in her. Frigo has been taken into custody by the French police.

Discovery appears at the head of events, showing their strong presence
as they enjoy the last of the level ground.

Phonak rider Oscar Pereiro pops away with Credit Agricole's Pietro
Caucchioli trying to chase. They move off from the bunch a bit.

At the head of the race, now firmly on the climb of the Col du
Madelaine, Hushovd has left his break partner cleanly in his wake. At
the base of the first climb, the sprinter's pair had edged out to a
nearly 7 minute lead.

More Phonak jerseys appear to the front of the peleton and a second
breakaway moves away to join the move started by Periero. This time
Phonak's Santiago Botero pulls out with Liberty Seguros' Roberto Heras,
a continually strengthening Chris Horner from Saunier Duval and none
other than T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov. Other riders swell this
second bunch a bit as some of larger or more sore riders drift back
among the team cars. They stretch out a lead of at least a minute.
Another dangerous rider in this break is Illes Baleares' Francesco
Mancebo. Egoi Martinez from Euskatel-Euskadi rounds out the escapees.

Ag2R's Jean-Patrick Nazon has abandoned on the road today.

Unlike most the image of most mountain stages, the now-lone breakaway
rider Hushovd towers over those who have massed on the roadway of the
climb. This massive rider is in the hunt for the 6 sprint points which
lie after this first climb, and if he gets them, he'll pull on Green
Points Jersey at the end of the day.

The break which chases him has the potential to be dangerous, containing
both challengers and quality climbers. With Mancebo in the breakaway,
Armstrong cannot afford to allow them to get too far out of sight. The
Discovery-led peleton remains reasonably large.

For some reason Alejandro Valverde drifts back to the doctor's car.
Though his pedalling style remains easy, he spends a bit of time
speaking with the doctor, who digs into his bag, finds a pill and a
bottle of something or another. Maybe a headache or a slightly upset
stomach, but the Illes Baleares rider who took over the White Best Young
Rider Jersey with his phenomenal efforts yesterday seems to be
reasonably content again.

Up ahead, Roberto Heras finds himself adrift from the break bunch.
Though he'd been setting the pace earlier, he's switched off the power
now and pedals lumpily.

The steady attrition continues to follow behind Armstrong and the boys
in (light) blue. One or two riders always seem to be drifting back as
the Discovery team keeps the climbers' group within a minute and a half.

At the head of events Hushovd is now caught and smartly passed by the
thinned group.

The devil appears next to Hushovd - oddly wearing green today. No
explanation has been provided for the change in chromatic expression.

Liquigas rider Stephano Garzelli finds mold and dry rot has crept into
his legs. After spending much of the climb right behind Armstrong, he's
made the long hiss of a deflating balloon and gone backwards.

Hushovd siezes on a slightly less brutal pitch to claw back to the
climbers' lead group. Vinokourov continues to animate the pace, shifting
back up to the large chainring as their number swells back to eight.

The former eighth rider - Heras - has continued his tumble through the
peleton and now is adrift among the team cars. Not enough of the right
kind of miles or some kind of caloric bonk for this climbing specialist.
Either that or he's realized that the impending closure by Discovery
means that any effort will go to naught. As we speak, the break gap has
been reduced to under 40 seconds on this 25 km climb. We're up near the
2000 meter crest of this climb, and the Armstrong-led "peleton" has been
diminished to about 30 riders.

Mancebo and Horner pedal a bit less confidently and drift back as
Discovery roll up. Again Discovery have 5 teammates positioned at the
front. With about 2 km's to the summit, Periero and Vinokourov have
paired to leave the other break members behind, although Botero scrapes
up some Columbian courage and reattaches. It seems like the Armstrong
group has a three T-Mobile riders along with them; Jan Ullrich, Andreas
Kloden and possibly Guiseppe Guerini.

The cartoon colors of Phonak surf in the wake of Vinokourov until Botero
takes it to his head to snag the KoM points. About 45 seconds behind,
Michael Rasmussen marks Credit Agricole's Christophe Moreau, but then
lets him surge ahead to take a few more points int he cimbing competition.

Everyone that matters begins to head downhill, jerseys zipped back up
and a healthy 20 km descent before them. Periero decides to take the
scenic route and drifts a bit wide on a turn. Then he drifts wider.
Wider. Poof! He heads onto the soft looking grasses and then disappears
from sight down an embankment. No bad outcome from this as the Phonak
rider exits the meadow and tries to shake that experience form his
thoughts.

Orangeman Martinez has made his way across the gap and now sets the pace
down the mountian. Periero too has put himself back up front. Vinokourov
remains just off the set of three, seeming to prefer a bit of air before
him as they streak downward.

Other riders have thrown out any caution they may have possesed and have
used gravity to put them in touch with the swelling peleton. They have
remained reasonably conservative on the descent, and the gap has edged
back out 1:15.

The quartet has hit the feed zone now and they slalom to find their
soigneurs and haphazardly stuff their pockets before the next climbing
begins. Hushovd has tucked himself back into the peleton, perhaps with
designs on the sprint point that sits in the valley of the Morien.

Well, it's roughly the time at which I normally begin watching the
coverage. Light begins creeping more fully into the sky and more Peets
coffee finds its way into my cup. The 5:30 EDT start to the coverage
means a 3:30 nudge on the west coast.

A closeup of Lance's bike shows that he uses the wieght-saving setup of
a downtube shifter for the front deraileur. Another glimpse of the
peleton shows that T-Mobile rider Matthias Kessler wears his number - 13
- upside down. Wonder if that has to do with a superstition to reverse
the "bad luck" of the number. Armstrong drifts back shifting and
resetting his left shoe.

The Armstrong group has not grown all that much since they came off the
mountain. It still seems to consist of 35 - 40 riders.

Vinokourov gets six seconds the easy way as he floats first through the
Sprint point for the day.

The Col du Telegraph and the high point of the Tour in the form of the
Col du Galibier lie immediately ahead. Discovery riders form for another
team photo at the front of the bunch, stretched and ready for the next
big push.

With the roadway now pitching upward again, Martinez immediately becomes
unhooked and falls away from the Phonak-Vino-Phonak sandwich. Quickly,
they decide on an open-face sandwich, as some accellerations by Periero
neatly slice off Botero. The climb essentially stair-steps up to the
2645 meter high point of the Galibier. Six Discovery teammates set
steady pace on the beginning of the climbing.

Botero bungees back up to the front again to create the climbing troika.
Paolo Salvodelli dips back in the bunch to ferry bottles up to the
Discovery boys. It could be said that if you are able to use the winner
of the Giro D'Italia as a domestique, you might have a fairly strong team.

Fasso Bortolo climber Kim Kirchen drops the flag for Luxembourg and
abandons today.
Quick-Step's Stephano Zanini also pulls over and says "good night".

The threesome out front continues to eke out a lead, stretching things
out to nearly 3 minutes on this easier climb of the Telegraph. They move
hard up to the summit, Botero again moving ahead to take KoM points.

Ninnies with national flags run in front of the Armstrong bunch before
Rasmussen and Moreau again cross swords for the 4th place points.
Rasmussen turns around to make sure they've gapped the bunch, and then
turns off the gas to let Moreau nip it again.

A quick descent and back onto the climb for the leading three - this
time 18 km at just under 7% to reach the Henri Desgrange Memorial - the
floating point of honor in each year's race which marks the high point
reached each year. The first rider to reach this point pockets somewhere
around $6000US in extra cash. They start the climb 3:30 in front of the
Armstrong group.

Suprisingly, Periero pops quickly off the back as Botero finds his
rythmn to match Vinokourov's efforts.

Basque rider Iban Mayo bobbles off the back of the Discovery-led chase
group. Six teammates still pulse along at the front of events,
tightening the gap down to 3:09. Manuel Beltran has reached the end of
his extension cord and the motor clicks off.

Vinokourov has decided to go it alone, leaving Botero behind as the
climb continues. Smartly turning over a low gear, he looks well within
himself and seems to accellerate in his Khazakstan National Jersey.
Periero now has fallen away by 15 seconds or so, while Botero is more
than a minute and a half behind.

This seems to catch Armstrong's attention, and there is a subtle
increase in pace. Ullrich rises up out of the saddle briefly, but he's
still holding onto the wheel of the Yellow Jersey. Kloden and Guerini
have drifted back within the group.

Vinokourov still punches along in his stocky style rising out of the
saddle when he feels he needsd a little extra push, while behind him the
chase has stretched to a long thin line.

This stage recalls the ill-fated stage to Gap, when Vinokourov managed
to gain a lead and streaked through the dangerous downhill finish for a
stage win. Of course, that ended badly for Joseba Beloki...

Periero is alone no longer as he is swept up by the Discovery pacemakers
on a switchback. He then continues dropping back. With 5 km to go, Chris
Horner has become unhooked from the bunch.

Gerolsteiner co-leaders Georg Totschnig turns his ears inside out to
stay attached, mentally glued to the rear wheel of Andreas Kloden.
Within a few minutes, the positions are reversed and the T-Mobile rider
searches for a gear that may no longer be there.

Vino holds 39 seconds over Botero, who continues to seem as if he's
locked into a wrestling match with his handlebars. 2:50 behind, big
George Hincapie sets the chase pace. Again this versatile and talented
rider has succesfully made the shift from Spring Classics rider to climb
pacemaker in July.

Still the switchbacks continue to unfold in front of the riders. Some
clever fellah has decided to mark the arrival of the race by setting off
fireworks - probably because there's so much extra oxygen near the
summit of this 8,000 foot plus summit.

Rabbit costume sighting among the spectators. It does look better than
the profusion of Yellow umbrella hats. Now a lion and a leopard costume.

The thick crowds push in on Vinokourov as he heads up to teh summit.
Thankfully, the barriers finally appear followed quickly by the line at
the KoM banner, winning the Desgrange special prize.

Down the mountain, Rasmussen has hit the gass and accellerated away from
the Armstrong bunch. They do not seem too concerned - the Rabobank rider
must have cleared it with Armstrong.

Botero kicks over the top of the climb a solid 45 seconds back

Rasmussen moves well up the roadway, eyeing maximum climbing points. The
points factor higher on more difficult climbs, so he will take more on
this HC summit.

I wonder if Armstrong will use the descending skills of Salvoldelli to
put the lackluster descender Ullrich under pressure. Although once down
from the summit, it's more of a simple no-brakes runout to town.

Rasmussen over in third place 2:24 behind.

Moreau leads through as the best of the rest (including Armstrong) trail
the leader by 2:42.

The congealed first survivor group which includes Kloden scoots over at 3:18

The first part of the descent is fairly tricky, and riders stretch out
on the guard-railless descent.

Botero drops like a stone as Vino takes a bit more conservative
approach. (Though as you get a sense of the speed from the moto cameras,
conservative for these riders is an extremely relative term.) But the
Columbian rider evaporates the 45 second gap and joins Vinokourov.

T-Mobile invisible man Oscar Sevilla and suffering Roberto Heras finally
make their way over the summit, well back off the pace.

Botero screams downhill with Vino matching him from a polite gap. They
howl under the 20 km to go banner.

Cameras a continent away pan across a brace of enthusiasts watching the
race a continent away via the jumbotron in Time Square in New York City.
I would assume that they can look up and see themselves on the big
screen, watching images beamed to France and back to New York. There
seems to be a significant amount of reciprocity in this event...

Interestingly enough, the last time we finished in Briancon, the stage
was taken by none other than Santiago Botero.

Hincapie puts the hammer down in what looks like a 30 rider team trial.
Four Discovery riders lead Armstrong, who is in turn followed by the
Polka-Dotted Rasmussen.

Technology slightly conspires against Vinokourov, as his race
transponder has come loose and vibrated backwards against his left rear
dropout. The little yellow box dangles from two zip-ties and keeps
tapping the spokes on the non-drive side of the bicycle. It looks as
though there's enough slack to let it catch in the spokes. When we look
again, the T-Mobile mechanic earns his pay by leaning out the window of
the team car, grabbing the offending bit and clipping the zip ties. All
this as the road passes under their wheels at about 40 mph. Just make
sure you count your fingers before you put your hands back in your pockets.

8 km to go and the gap has been reduced to 1:52. A ragged echelon forms
in what is clearly a healthy crosswind.

5 km to go. Vino keeps shaking his legs to keep them supple for the
finish. All this goes on as they continue going faster than you can
imagine driving these roads. Botero keeps his head down and perches on
the very tip of the saddle, using his time trialing skills to keep
things moving. And moving they are - notching 1:04's each for the last
two kilometers, roughly 60 kph.

Under 1 km to go banner, Botero finds himself at the head of events as
they head into the dead straight finish. He eases slightly and hugs the
right hand barrier, forcing Vino to come out toward the middle of the
road. eh two of them are side by side. Finally Vino punches it and
Botero throws a rod int he engine and cannot answer. Vinokourov takes
the stage, showing that his form has returned. That also gives him a 20
second time bonus for first place.

Discovery leads in the bunch, pace high enough that no one can easily
come around them. Hincapie swings off and Armstrong starts a minor move
from underneath at the barriers. But, it seems that he feels too many
riders around him and eases slightly, allowing Christophe Moreau to get
an uncontested third on the day.

Meanwhile, riders in the "autobus" are just now cresting the Galibier.
They have a good 45 minutes before they can punch their time cards and
head to the break rooms.


Stage 11 - Results -
1 - Alexandre Vinokourov - T-Mobile - 4:46:38
2 - Santiago Botero - Phonak - s.t.
3 - Chistophe Moreau - Credit Agricole - +1:15
4 - Bobby Julich - CSC - s.t.
5 - Eddie Mazzoleni - Lampre - s.t.
6 - Lance Armstrong - Discovery - s.t.
7 - Cadel Evans - Lotto - s.t.
8 - Levi Leipheimer - Gerolsteiner - s.t.
9 - Michael Rasmussen - Rabobank - s.t.
10 - Georg Totschnig - Gerolsteiner - w.t.

GC Standings - after 11 Stages
MJ - Lance Armstrong - 41:59:57
2 - Michael Rasmussen - +:38
3 - Christophe Moreau - +2:34
4 - Ivan Basso - CSC - +2:40
5 - Alejandro Valverde - Illes Baleares - +:3:16
6 - Santiago Botero - Phonak - +3:47
7 - Levi Leipheimer - Gerolstiener - +3:58
8 - Francisco Mancebo - Illes Baleares - +4:00
9 - Jan Ullrich - T-Mobile - +4:02
10 - Andreas Kloden - T-Mobile - +4:16


Tomorrow's Stage - Stage 12
Briancon - Digne-les-Bains 187 km
Bastille Day Stages are often the playground of French riders and teams.
Such could be the case on this "ripply" stage which does include five
ategorized climbs. The topography will tend to prompt an aggressive
stage, with short sharp climbs interspersed with a couple early sprint
points. The day after will be a fairly flat, and as such this may be the
prime moment to gain television time or an escape from the peleton.


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