2012 Dauphine Stage 4 - ITT

Well, Andy Schleck had to do another Individual Time Trial today; this one at 53km. Its hard to gauge his improvement when 12km into it, he crashes. Then he punctures once he got on the replacement bike...

I guess we'll have to see what July holds for us:

Andy Schleck crashes in Critérium du Dauphiné time trial

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/andy-schleck-crashes-in-criterium-du-dauphine-time-trial)

Andy Schleck's fitness has been a major talking point at the Critérium du Dauphiné to date, but the RadioShack-Nissan rider was denied the chance to gauge his time trialling form when he crashed early on stage 4.

The Luxembourger came a cropper in the stiff winds that buffeted the 53.5km time trial course from Villié-Morgon to Bourg-en-Bresse; rounding a sharp right hand bend 12 kilometres into his effort, a sudden gust caught his rear disc wheel, and Schleck duly took a tumble.

Although Schleck was quickly back on his spare bike, a puncture shortly afterwards added insult to injury, and he opted not to take any further risks as the wind continued to wreak havoc on his cornering.

"When we did the parcours this morning the wind wasn't like that," a dejected Schleck said afterwards. "I had a good start and good feelings until there. After that, I kept on going but I didn't have the concentration after that. I just wanted to get to the finish. I couldn't go in the [time trial] position anymore."

Addressing a group of reporters huddled around a team van near the finish line, Schleck was at least able to count his blessings as far injuries are concerned. Although his skinsuit was torn around his right hip, Schleck reported road rash but no broken bones as a result of his fall.

"After a crash you get on the bike and you have the adrenaline for the first few kilometres, but after a while my ribs hurt and my hand hurt," Schleck said. "Still, I'm sitting here and not in an ambulance, so that's a good sign."

Schleck bristled slightly when it was put to him that he may have erred in choosing disc wheels on such a windy course. "Maybe if you have 85 kilos it's easier to stay on the bike," he said tersely. "The wind was playing with me a bit out there, so it's a good warning maybe for the other guys.

"I started with the first guys and nobody was out there before me [to warn about the conditions – ed]. The wind came just as I started."

Of course, Schleck was among the early starters expressly because he had been so out of sorts in the opening days of the Dauphiné, coughing up chunks of time on the first two road stages.

But then, the 26-year-old Schleck is already an old hand when it comes to churning out sub-par performances in June before undergoing a remarkable transfiguration in July.

"Everybody is asking my form, but then every year people ask about it," he said. "In years gone by, I've always been a bit behind at the Tour de Suisse and then I've always been up there at the Tour de France. And now, [by riding the Dauphiné – ed.] I'm a week ahead, so I'm not worried at all for the Tour."

The more immediate goal is to stay in touch with the likes of Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Cadel Evans (BMC) on the road to Morzine on Saturday: "Tomorrow, I'm probably not going to feel great on the bike, but I hope to stay with the best on the Joux Plane. Every day, I'm feeling better and better."

Bruyneel – we wanted a time trial test

Schleck and his brother Fränk's rapport with manager Johan Bruyneel has been the subject of considerable media scrutiny in recent weeks, but after phoning the start line to warn his remaining riders about the dangers of using disc wheels, Bruyneel told reporters that his rider had started Thursday's time trial at a decent tempo.

"It's a pity because I think he'd started well," he said. "We weren't expecting him to do a super time trial but the plan was for him to give a constant effort for 50km. I think physically he was going quite well today. He wasn't going to lose the kind of time that a lot of other people were."

While Schleck will continue in the Dauphiné as the race enters the high mountains, Bruyneel was disappointed that he had been denied the chance to test himself against the watch, particularly given the similarities in distance between this time trial, and the Tour de France's penultimate stage to Chartres. Forced to switch bikes following his accident, Schleck will now have no SRM data from his effort.

"He's a climber, so we know already how good he is in the mountains," Bruyneel said wistfully. "This time trial was a great test and we weren't able to do it."

(Picture: http://twitpic.com/9tr392 via @davidopoczynski - Twitter)

June 7, Stage 4 - (ITT): Villié-Morgon - Bourg-en-Bresse 53km

Wiggins takes resounding victory in time trial

 

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/races/criterium-du-dauphine-2012/stage-4-itt/results)

Bradley Wiggins (Sky) flew to the win of the 53km stage 4 time trial in the Criterium du Dauphine, beating world champion Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) by a whopping 34 seconds. Former world champion Michael Rogers, also of Sky, was third at 1:11 down.

"It was a solid time trial for everyone today, there was no way of bluffing it or fluking it," said Wiggins. "It was a real test in the conditions. It's just nice to be out there in that discipline after all the training we've spent on the time trial bike over the winter and in the last few weeks.

"To beat the world champion is a big thing as I've not finished ahead of Tony many times in the past. I beat him at Algarve at the start of the season but that was by milliseconds so to do it by a clear margin this time is a huge satisfaction.

"We've been chasing Tony for a long time – he raised the bar at the world championship last year so that was a starting point for us; to work towards trying to get close to him. It's by no means going to be the same every time trial we do from now on but it's something nice to show the kids when they are older! However I don't think you can look into it too much. It's not a form guide for the Tour de France, it's just how you happened to go on one particular day but it's definitely a nice position to be in."

Martin was pragmatic in his assessment of his runner-up result to Wiggins.

"Today I had no super legs," Martin said. "It took a while to get into the rhythm of the race. At the beginning I wasn't really concentrated, but I got better. I know when and why I lost, so it is OK for me. Bradley did a great race. As for me, maybe today I was a little bit tired. I did a lot of training for the Tour of Belgium, and a lot of training after the race to prepare for the Tour de France."

The loser of the day was Cadel Evans, who was nearly caught by his two-minute man, Wiggins. The BMC rider finished eighth on the day, and lost 1:42 on the overall rankings.

Evans in fact fell from second to fifth overall. Martin is now second, 38 seconds behind Wiggins. Rogers is third at 1:20 and Sylvain Chavanel (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) fourth at 1:38.

Wiggins covered the 53km from Villié-Morgon to Bourg-en-Bresse in 1:02:12. He almost caught Evans, who started two minutes ahead of him, as they neared the finish line.

Andy Schleck's bad luck continued as he crashed 12km into the stage, a victim of the strong winds which ruled the day. The RadioShack-Nissan rider ended the day with the eighth-slowest time, 10:47 in arrears of Wiggins.

Luke Durbridge (Orica-GreenEdge) set the early best times at both intermediate time checks and the finish, and remained in the hot seat for a long time. But then along came young Wilco Kelderman of Rabobank, who set better times all along and in fact finished an impressive fourth on the day. The Dutchman nearly came to grief in sight of the finish, narrowly escaping a crash on the final corner as he came into the left hand turn carrying too much speed.

After Kelderman the best times kept changing rapidly. Michael Rogers (Sky), who is enjoying a comeback this year after several rather invisible seasons, took his turn atop the leader's board. Martin then roared in with a new best time.

But the sensation of the day was the overnight race leader, Wiggins. The Briton was third at the first intermediate time check, at 11 seconds down, but charged up to lead Martin by 36 seconds at the 40km time check, before cruising in to win easily.

Interestingly, Great Britain and Australia both claimed three spots in the day's top ten, and Sky took three spots: first, third and sixth.

 

 

Full Results

1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	1:03:12
2	Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:00:34
3	Michael Rogers (Aus) Sky Procycling	0:01:11
4	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:26
5	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:01:33
6	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
7	Luke Durbridge (Aus) Orica GreenEdge	0:01:38
8	Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team	0:01:43
9	David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Barracuda	0:01:51
10	Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:54