| Stage 10 |
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07.17.01 Check today's standings.
The rumors were out and about - something big was going to happen today. Would it be USPS on the attack, looking to grab back a huge time gap, or would teams like ONCE or Kelme try and spoil things for all the "big" teams? - and we'd now get to see just how powerful Telekom was and what form Ullrich had brought to the race. With the weathe rnot a factor at the start - in fact downright nice - the initial story of the day was 3 riders off the front from 6km and building a substantial gap of just over 12' on the peloton. Laurent Roux (JD), Toni Tauler (Kelme) and Eladio Jimenez (iBanesto) were no major GC threat, all about an hour down in the standings. But with the main GC leaders needing to recoup big time blocks, having these riders away meant that there would be little battling in the main pack for now - they needed to get up to these guys first. The pace started to affect some of the riders even after the first climb, several small crashes and folks being spit off the back. At 74 km USPS sent Russian "Eki" Ekimov to front to push the pace, but the trio ahead continued their march and in fact upped their lead to over 13' at the base of the Madeleine. But then there was trouble within the leaders, Roux and Tauler were seen suffering as Jimenez rode along in control. Good news for USPS as Tyler Hamilton seemed to be having a good day was at the front of the pack along with Eki. The peloton rolled onto the Madeleine, and Telekom and Postal moved up in force - Lance and Ullrich very evident, as was Kivilev from Cofidis. Back in the pack the sprinters were getting dropped off with clockwork regularity as the climb progressed. 5 Telekoms on point, and Kloeden's pace upwards breaks the main pack into 2, with the current Yellow Jersey O'Grady in the second group as well as Tyler Hamilton for Postal. The main bunch have 70 riders chasing to the leading trio - still almost 13' ahead on the road. As the work up the Madeleine progressed, those not in the lead group were shattering behind as packs fell apart and tried to regroup to help each other simply survive the grueling 24.8 km climb. The gap to the leaders was also coming down now, under 12', and all the race fovorites stil in the main group - although none had actually come forward to make a move - yet. Telekom was looking very strong on the first big climb of the day with 6 riders on point. The pace was high - nearly 25 mph for the day so far - but how long could the domestiques maintain this tempo? Glandon and Alp d'Huez still lay in waiting. The initial tactic for the day, driven by the Telekoms, seemed to be to simply shatter the pack and see who was left standing afterwards. Up front Tauler was feeling the effects of their massive effort and was dropping off the pace. American Bobby Julich was also seen struggling on the initial big climb of the day, spit out of the main chase pack and losing considerable time. For USPS it was Lance, Heras and Rubiera; 2 of the Telekom domestiques rode back off, their jobs done - the odds were coming down. The main pack was only 40 strong as they crested the Madeleine, Kevin Livingston on point, Ullrich in third 8'20" to Roux. Roux was the first over the summit and took the $2500 "souvenir Henri Desgrange" prize at the top. Contained in the pack were Lance, Heras, Ullrich, Kivilev, Beloki, Jalabert and surpisingly still Francoise Simon - just 4'32" down in 2nd place in the GC standings. Telekom and USPS were now even in team strength at 3 a piece, but USPS had not done any work up front so far. As they crested the summit Lance and his 2 teammates were in the back end of the pack - were they marking time, or was there a problem? Jaan Kirsipuu has had enough and abandons the Tour back down the mountain. Down the descent and time for a recovery and somewhat of a regroup. The pack was still not much more than 45 or so riders coming up to the Glandon climb. Telekom was definitely the team of the day so far, doing practically all the work at the front so far. Up ahead the strongest rider was Laurent Roux 10k from the top - he attacked solo now a little ahead of Eladio Jimenez and 7 ' to the chasing group. Lance was still riding at the rear of the main group as the 2nd climb progressed - again the question: was this intentional, or was he in difficulty? There was also a large group reformed about 8' back to the chasing peloton. Francoise Simon had the most to lose today, but he had to hang on to the main pack and was seen struggling to stay with the leaders, and then he was dropped - he had to finish around 18' better to Kivilev to grab the Yellow Jersey. Word comes in from USPS's Johan Bruyneel - Lance's radio is not working and they have decided to "stay quiet and follow Ullrich and Telekom", apparently content to wait for the Mountain Time Trial tomorrow unless a dramatic opportunity came about. Telekom presses the pack on, Kevin Livingston spending a lot of time in the lead, and the gap was now just over 6' to Roux. But Roux will have some satisfaction today as he would be wearing the Polka Dot jersey tomorrow for sure as he crested the Glandon first - the final kms of this effort the steepest part of the route today, sometimes over 12% in grade. The question now as the riders descended into the valley before the final work up the famed Alp d'Huez: would the main riders be content to ride to the finish (relatively) 'en masse', or would one or more of the GC contenders launch an attack in an attempt to distance himself significantly in the standings - and make an important statement to his rivals? Ullrich had been nothing short of stoic today, sitting in third place in the pack for what seemed the entire stage so far. Just before the top of Glandon and Kevin Livingston is off the main group, but he looked like he might regain the group on the descent. The main chasers were now over the second summit and descending at around 6' back to Roux. They were whittled down to just 30 members, all the GC hopefuls (sans Julich) still in the hunt. Simon was 2' behind and still looking at a possible GC lead, and Livingston was back on. Beloki called up his team car and switched to a lighter bike - shades of things to come? Simon was looking good for the GC lead, 2' minutes back and pacing himself, doubtful he would lose enough time on the final climb to not be in Yellow tomorrow. There was still one rider between Roux and the pack, Eladio Jimenez, but he was sitting up waiting on the chasers, not wanting to ride alone any more. The main pack had one small but nasty 12% climb before the long descent to the base of Alp d'Huez. Telekom was still in front with 4 men as they dropped down to the base of the final climb. The route up Alp d'Huez is 14kms long with its famed 21 switchbacks and some portions of the 8% avg grade reaching 14%. Lance dropped back briefly to chat with Johan Bruyneel in the team car, grab a bottle, and then rode back into the main chase group. Eladio Jimenez was now absorbed and woud probably be dropped soon. Roux hit the base of the final climb 6'42" up on the chasers, but it was all uphill now and he was looking a little desperate. The pack entered the base of Alp d'Huez and the pace immediately ramped up. Lance instantly locked onto Ullrichs's wheel - had he been bluffing all day?! Then Rubiera and Armstrong attacked! They came quickly to the front and shattered the pack and then Lance went off the front as well - it was all planned! He ripped the field to shreds and now had a stage win in his sights too. Lance was dancing on his pedals and in no difficulty at all - Ullrich soon 90" back to LA as he continued his assault upward! While Ullrich rode great all day, in the end he just had no answer whatsoever - Lance and USPS were giving the field a serious lesson in racing tactics - it was Hautacam all over again... He ripped the field to shreds and now had a stage win in his sights as well! Ullrich was down 30" right away and just trying to stay within himself - soon 90" to Ullrich, and Lance now was ripping into Roux as the Frenchman was in abject pain just 1' ahead. Lance was now was ripping into Roux as the Frenchman was in abject pain ahead. At 6 kms lance has Roux in sight - and passes him with impunity! Everyone - everyone - was just stunned! This is nothing short of amazing... Lance was spinning up at over 90 rpms and looked cool and in charge - Ullrich mashing behind now 51" back - Kivilev at 3'. 4k to go and Lance was still riding nicely, in fact accelerating to the finish. Ullrich and a few others caught Roux, but they were at least 2' back to Lance. 2k to go and it was still all good... Lance would join Andy Hampsten as the only American to win this awesome stage! Under the 1k banner and it was time for satisfaction - Lance crosses the line in determined fashion, keeping the pace high wanting as much time as possible. Lance wins - Lance wins! Stage Placings: GC Standings: |
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