REST DAY NOTES:
Nine stages down, twelve to
go. Chris Froome is where we
expected he would be at the first rest day: in charge, although his team has
showed serious kinks in the armor. We have a general idea of who the real contenders
will be for the overall classification, as well as the other jersey
competitions. And we have seen who has not brought their best game to the race.
The current jersey holders are all good contenders to be wearing those jerseys
come Paris. Two more weeks of testing roads stand between them and the Champs
Elysees first.
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| The Orica GreenEdge bus stuck under the stage-1 gantry |
The first nine stages added
up to one of the most thrilling Tour openings in recent memory. Corsica hosted
a beautiful start, and all of Southern France delivered on compelling action.
It has been very competitive, full of surprises, several lead changes, elation
and deflation, hot sun, some records broken and others neared, tears and
laughs, crashes, sacrifices, failure and success. It is the Tour De France.
Looking back at some of the
fascinating events and protagonists of the first nine stages I will just pick a
few to discuss briefly:
First of all, Chris Froome: He stayed out of trouble
for seven days, and then dominated the first mountain stage. He then responded
to every attack thrown at him in the second mountain stage. The only problem
for Chris “Vroom” was his team. The
normally robust Sky squad showed the effects of the heat and physical damage
they have suffered with a terrible showing on stage 9. Worse, Froome’s most
reliable Sherpa, the Tasmanian Richie Porte, hit the wall on Sunday, losing
eighteen minutes, and dropping way, way out of podium contention (He dropped
from 2nd overall to 33rd). The stage 11 time trial on
Wednesday will give Sky another chance to shine.
Alejandro Valverde: He is comfortably sitting in the seat vacated by
Richie Porte, second overall, and his Movistar team sent a very powerful
message to Chris Froome and the rest of the world that they are a bad-ass force
to be reckoned with, and that Sky are maybe not so invincible after all. It was
the best refreshment after all the clamor about Froome possibly running away
with the maillot jaune like Wiggo last year and making for a dull race. No
dullness here.
Valverde also enjoys a
top-notch support squad, each one of which is a high talent in his own right. And
Valverde is not as bad a time trialer as many are making him out to be. On a
flat course he may be not too dissimilar from the three riders behind him on
GC. I would not be surprised if there is very little change in the top 5 after
the TT.
Alberto Contador: “el pistolero” has not been at his best so far, but obviously this
bears frequent repeating: He gets better over the course of a tour. He hasn’t
sounded as confident in the last couple of days as he did before the race, but
riders find many ways to cozen their foes and the press. Contador is still
perfectly placed to stay in contention for a podium spot—at least. It may be
that he will not rediscover that top form, but I would never count the
five-time grand tour winner out. Plus he has a high-caliber firing squad of
support that includes Roman Kreuziger and Mick Rogers.
Cadel Evans
The 2011 Tour champ looked a little shaky for a while there, but he stepped up
and stayed with the leaders all the way to the stage 9 finish, and picked himself
up from 23rd to 16th. Unfortunately the time he lost on
stage 8 is probably enough to keep him from hoping for anything above a
top-five finish. Still, he recovers as well as any Tour champion I’ve ever seen
and if he is one of the few remaining in the last mountainous week, he could
still net a high spot.
J-Rod:
Katusha’s diminutive torque-thrower Joaquim Rodriguez has not yet tasted the
tastiest stages for his mountain goat legs. But he stayed with the front group
through the treacherous ninth stage, and more importantly stayed with them all
the way through the 30k descent and flat finish. He could have a surprising TT
and possibly remain a legitimate podium candidate, at least. Though TT’s are
not purito’s forte, so he will have to be patient until stage 15, when the Mont
Ventoux finish will beckon for the climbers’ return.
Everybody seems to be
calling Bauke Mollema a “surprise”.
I do not find anything surprising about the good-going of the Dutch rider for
Team Belkin. I mentioned in my TDF race preview several stage races in which he
made top-5 this year, including finishing second at the TDF warm-up race, the
Tour de Suisse. He has showed good TT results, and continues to climb with the
best. Mollema could be just coming into his own now, and although his past
Tours De France have not been exceptional, this year does seem to offer him a
good opportunity to show what he can do.
The other important riders I
want to discuss are the young riders.
Nairo Quintana has been putting on the kind of show that we have come to cherish about
him. He rides with calm composure and then periodically, at will, puts in some
serious damaging attacks. He reminds me of Contador a few years ago, the way he
can attack and come back, and attack and attack and attack. He is one of the
most entertaining riders of this year’s race, and a very good bet to win the
white jersey now.
Thibaut Pinot: the young French hope was in close contention for white jerseys at
stage races all season long. He was also runner-up in two mountain jersey
competitions, and rode a powerful Tour de Suisse right before the Tour De
France, finishing fourth overall, sixth on points, and 2nd in the
KOM. Suddenly, Pinot’s prospects for this Tour are dwindling fast. He was 10th
overall last year and 2nd in the young rider’s competition, despite
having revealed a serious handicap: he fears descending. How he dealt with it
last year, I don’t know, but if he does not find a way to deal with it, then he
will never be the grand tour contender his team and his country are hoping for.
Pinot lost a devastating 25
minutes yesterday on stage 9. At the finish he made some damning remarks like,
“I cracked on the descent… I'm afraid of speed. It's a phobia,” and “When I saw that I was not able to
stay on the wheel of a rider like Mark Cavendish on the descent of a mountain
pass, I asked myself: ‘What am I doing on the Tour?' I received the clear
response that I have nothing to do here."
He continued, ”I don't know if I will be able to get over this trauma.” We
knew he was not a great descender, but this is an issue that should not be
rearing its ugly head during the Tour De France. At least Sunday’s revelations
will have to inspire FDJ to work on Pinot’s problem, either with training or
psychological therapy, or whatever they can come up with to dispel his “fear of
speed”.
Michal Kwiatkowski recovered on stage 9 to climb back up to 13th overall. His
talent is big and he is showing the heart to capitalize on it. The TT’s might
be his friend as he fights to climb higher in the standings, and actively take
on Quintana for the white jersey. I cannot wait to see how he goes for the next
two weeks.
That’s all I’ve got for now.
Enjoy the rest of the race!
