Best ... Tour Stage .... Ever (TDF Spoiler)
And to continue in the vein of Comic Book Guy ...
Best ... Tour ... Ever.
Now admittedly, I'm a relative neophyte to the Tour, having only caught on during the Greg Lemond era. And granted, that final time trial that Lemond won over Laurent Fignon was epic. But this? This?
This was so incredible it was almost unbloggable.
Yet, I will try.
When OLN picked up its coverage this morning, they told us that Floyd Landis had broken away from the field. It was a valiant gesture, but given that there were still over 120 kilometers remaining, that's all it seemed to be - a "I'm still a fighter guys!" gesture.
Then, as the kilometers began to tick away, you could feel things start to shift. Floyd looked good and the gap was starting to widen, and you could actually make a logical argument that his move wasn't just about pride.
1) Most of the theories floating out from yesterday's disastrous stage centered around Landis not taking on enough food and water. That'll cause you to bonk big-time, and lord knows Landis did. But that doesn't mean you're done physically for the rest of the Tour. A little rest, a little TLC from the team masseuse, some carbo-loading and voila! Landis was a new man.
2) Once Landis formed a gap on the peloton, he didn't have to worry about feed stations and getting water bottles from teammates. The Phonak team car was able to settle in just behind and replenish him whenever he wanted. Clearly he wasn't taking chances. He spent a good deal of time on the stage dousing himself with water and stuffing carbs in his face.
3) If Floyd had been a little higher in the overall standings, such an early attack might have been suicidal. But heck, he was only 11th, 8:08 out of the lead. Trying to counter that attack so early in the stage - on the first climb for crying out loud! - didn't make sense. So they let him go.
4) Once it became apparent that Landis was strong, the leaders in the peloton had a Gordian-knot level conundrum. The yellow jersey, Oscar Pereiro, and his team clearly didn't have enough juice to make a big effort to chase down Landis. The other teams, like T-Mobile, CSC and Rabobank then spent precious time playing as Velonews describe it "you do it" "No, you do it!" You couldn't really blame them. If Kloden goes, what if he blows up and gets passed by Menchov and Sastre? The same concens were there for Menchov, Sastre and Cadel Evans? It was just too early, just too risky.
Landis? He didn't have those worries. He had nothing to lose. Heck, with plans to replace his hip after this Tour, he might be riding in his last Tour ever. Why not go for it?
I know a lot of you out there don't find cycling to be a very exciting televised sport, but when something like this happens, it's impossible to look away. I was glued to the ticker at the bottom of the screen, which kept spitting out time splits between Landis and the yellow jersey. The numbers kept climbing. The drama kept building.
This stuff just doesn't happen in the modern Tour. Maybe back in the days of Merckx and Anquetil, but not now. Race contenders don't just ride off and dust the entire field on a critical stage. Yet, as the day wore on, it became apparent that was what Landis might just pull off. Eventually, he became the virtual yellow jersey on the field, with a lead over NINE MINUTES!!!!
Finally, finally, CSC took up the chase and the time gaps began to dwindle. And there was still the final HC climb Joux de Plane. Could Landis hold on? If so, would he make up enough time to becomea factor again?
Midway up the climb, the answer was an emphatic yes. Carlos Sastre created a second story line when he attacked on the slopes. He needed to make up just 1:50 on Pereiro, who looked not-so-hot, to move into the yellow jersey. Of course, Sastre also needed to hold off Landis as well. Can you believe the words Landis and "yellow jersey" were being used in the same sentence at this point?
As Landis rolled over the Joux de Plane, there was no doubt he would win the stage. Now he had a dare-devil descent where he could either a) take it easy, win the stage and make sure he didn't go off a cliff or b) let it all hang out and keep trying to make up time.
Which option do you think Floyd went with? Exactly. After leading by 5:08 over Sastre at the top of the climb, he ended up winning the stage by 5:42. Yep, over half a minute gained on a descent. And to think, the French press complained that Landis lacked panache. Panache this.
Once Sastre crossed the line, the next watch went out, to see if Pereiro could hold on. In a shining example of how wearing the yellow can just transform a man, Pereiro fought back and somehow held on, finishing with a 12 second lead over Sastre, and 30 seconds on Landis.
The other "contenders", Kloden and Evans, finished with Pereiro. Menchov straggled in 16 seconds later.
So here's the new top 10, with just three stages left.
Overall
1. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne-I.B. 3248.6km in 80:08:49
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 00:12
3. Floyd Landis (USA), Phonak, 00:30
4. Andréas Klöden (G), T-Mobile, 02:29
5. Cadel Evans (Aus), Davitamon-Lotto, 03:08
6. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 04:14
7. Cyril Dessel (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 04:24
8. Christophe Moreau (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 05:45
9. Haimar Zubeldia (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 08:16
10. Michael Rogers (Aus), T-Mobile, 12:13
Stage 18 should - and I use that term VERY loosely in this most unpredictable of Tours - be a recovery day. The only real drama here might be in short breakaways for time bonuses.
Stage 19, the final time trial, is where it's all going to happen.
Let's look at how the the guys within five minutes of the yellow jersey did in the previous time trial, Stage 7. That stage was roughly the same distance as Stage 19, so the comparison should be a worthy one.
1) Oscar Pereiro - 23rd, 1:04:24
2) Carlos Sastre - 18th, 1:03:54
3) Floyd Landis - 2nd, 1:02:44
4) Andreas Kloden - 8th, 1:03:26
5) Cadel Evans - 11th, 1:03:32
6) Denis Menchov - 9th, 1:03:27
7) Cyril Dessel - 38th, 1:05:25
Based on that, you'd have to consider - am I really about to write this? - Floyd Landis the favorite. Especially when you consider he experienced mechanical problems in the first time trial that cost him roughly half a minute. Thanks to today's stage, he only needs to make up 30 seconds on Pereiro, whom he bested by 1:40 in stage seven. The other top time trialers, like Kloden, Menchov and Evans would have to ride otherworldy efforts to make up enough time on Landis. After what's happened so far, I'm not discounting that, but it doesn't look likely.
All that, of course, presumes that Landis will recover decently in time for Saturday's time trial. That's the great unknown now: how much does Landis have left after today's historic ride?
Comments (3)
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I think the only controversy here is what do you call this one. Armstrong has The Look and "No Gifts" (Landis played a key role in the latter) and probably a couple of others I can't recall right now.
What do you call this one? The Ride? Whatever it was, it was c'est encroyable! as the French say.
Posted on July 20, 2006 12:58 PM
Lance Armstrong would've given his left nut to ride like Landis did today.
Oh, wait...
Posted on July 20, 2006 4:04 PM
I just finished watching the late-night Tour show. (That's what I get for not skipping work - commentary by Trautwig & Roll. Ack.) Anyway, Bob Roll said (several times, like he usually does) that this was the best one-day ride ever.
My vote still goes to Lemond '89 - down 50 seconds on the last day of the race to the guy who had won it twice before.
But this one was pretty darn good.
Posted on July 20, 2006 11:24 PM