2013 Tour de France Stage 9

Stage 9:

We all knew that the Yellow Jersey was going to be tested on this mountain stage. The other teams and CG Contenders wanted to break Froome and Team Sky. The question was would Froome be beat?

Garmin-Sharp, and in particular Dan Martin, along with some help from Movistar, shook Froome and Team Sky pretty much from the beginning of the stage, and with about 140 km still left to race, it was just Froome and Porte left. Then Porte was dropped on the second climb, leaving Froome solo. However, for most of the rest of the stage, Froome was able to answer and attack that his rivals threw at him.

The last climb of the day was where the action took place. Just under 5 km from the top, Dan Martin attacked and Jakob Fuglsang bridged to him. They hit the summit just under a minute before the Yellow Jersey. And then it was a descent to the finish line where Martin and Fuglsang battled it out for the finish. Martin took the last turn better than his rival, and pulled away with the win!

Froome was not to be beat though, he crossed the line 20" behind Martin, allowing him to stay in Yellow. Porte, however, was not so lucky; he lost over 18' on the Yellow Jersey.

Picture made by @aslanscubs

Although no panda showed up this time to motivate Dan Martin, it wasn't for lack of trying. Even Jonathan Vaughters, manager of Garmin-Sharp, asked for some panda help via Twitter:

For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about with Dan Martin and a panda then check this out!

2013 Tour de France Stage 8

This is late because I admit that I had no motivation last night. I'm going to warn you now that I may not do every stage recaps. I used to force myself to write and then it wasn't fun. I don't want this to feel like a job, so I will post when I can.

Stage 8:

This stage offered the first real taste of the mountains. This year the peloton is hitting the Pyrenees first with Ax 3 Domaines as a summit finish, not to mention the HC climb that came just before the last category 1 climb. I knew the sprinters would be distanced, and I hoped they could make the time cut. I didn't want another Ted King situation on the UCI's already bloody hands.

Just as the peloton left the neutral zone, Johnny Hoogerland attacked. I know his crash was two years ago, but it still makes me smile everytime I see his name in a break. He was then join by Jean-Marc Marino, Christophe Riblon, and Rudy Molard. They hit their max time of 9', taking the top four spots on the intermediate sprint, before being reeled back in by the peloton. Greipel lead the peloton over the sprint line, ahead of Sagan and Cavendish. By the time the base of the HC climb hit, the four riders were only down to 1'.

Hoogerland tried to attack the break, but it didn't work, as the peloton was closing in. Then Riblon attacked,  Marino and Hoogerland countered, but to no avail. Riblon went solo.

Robert Gesink attacked the peloton and Thomas Voeckler tried to bridge to him. The back of the peloton fell apart as the pace increased. Damiano Cunego was dropped with the sprinters, as was Daryl Impey, the Yellow Jersey. I have to give Impey credit for trying to hold on for as long as he could, but he started slowing down.

Nairo Quintana attacked next, passed Voeckler, and bridged to Gesink. He passed Gesink before passing Riblon! However, with only 34km left of the stage, the chase was on! Thirty riders, CG contendors, climbers, and teammates to help, began chasing Quintana. All wanting the Yellow Jersey on their shoulders, or for their team. Included in this chase were some big names: Christopher Froome, Richie Porte, Cadel Evans, Alberto Contador, Andy Schleck, Jakob Fuglsang, Dan Martin, Andrew Talansky, Joaquim Rodriguez, Pierre Rolland, and Alejandro Valverde. Missing however was Tejay van Garderen, who was dropped. This surprised me since he was the White Jersey winner last year, and overall had a much better 2012 Tour de France than team leader Evans.

At the top of the climb, Riblon was 27" behind Quintana, and the chase group was at 55". Rolland attacked out of the chase group, wanting extra KOM points. His effort paid off, as he earned back the Polka-Dot Jersey for the time being, but we'd have to see how the final climb would play out. Rolland finally caught Quintana at the very end of the descent, but the chasers were only 22" behind as the category 1 climb started right away.

After battling the HC climb first, Evans, Schleck, D. Martin, Talansky, Fuglsang, Rodriguez and some others were dropped through the descent and the beginning of this next climb, leaving only 10 riders chasing Quintana.

Then more began to fall, leaving only the big names: Froome, Valverde, Contador, Porte, and Kreuzinger. And even they began to shake. It was only Froome and Porte left when Quintana was caught, and Froome attacked solo with about 4km left. The big names who had given up chase were being distanced quite well by Froome, while some, like Evans, was being passed over and over again by other riders.

Froome took the stage with a 51" lead over teammate Porte, and in doing so, earned the Yellow Jersey and tied with Rolland for the KOM jersey. Although he didn't win the stage, Quintana still walked away with the White Jersey.

If this is a hint to what the next two weeks will be like, it looks like Sky might have another 1-2 victory this year.

Even with Andy Schleck on the team, I was surprised that Haimar Zubeldia is actually the highest placed RadioShack Leopard trek rider, broken hand and all.

And, if memory serves me correctly, through 8 stages, we have had 8 separate stage winners.

2013 Tour de France Stages 6-7

Stage 6:

I know the picture above isn't actually of the stage, but I thought this was the most beautiful picture of the day. Simon Gerrans "passed" the Yellow Jersey on to his Orica-GreenEdge teammate Daryl Impey, and in doing this Impey became the first African, or South African to be more specific, to ever wear the Yellow Jersey. Impey now has a 3 second lead over Edvald Boasson Hagen and 5 second lead over Gerrans.

Andre Greipel was the winner of the stage. He has led the peloton over the intermediate sprints for most of the stages this Tour, but today he took his first win of the 2013 Tour de France. He beat Peter Sagan, Marcel Kittel, and Mark Cavendish respectively.

I was sad to see that Nacer Bouhanni had to abandon during this stage. He got caught up in a crash at the end of Stage 5, and couldn't make it to the finish of Stage 6. This is the first Tour de France for the 22 year old, who is quickly becoming a contender in the mass sprints.

Stage 7: 

Apparently, even World Champions have tight leashes on. This morning, and article came out about Philippe Gilbert not being allowed to try to get in a breakaway and win this stage, which is suited for a rider like him. Although the article isn't in English, Google translate helped me get the gist of it. The team's decision is to keep Evans safe and all team members around him. This is a race for Evans and no one is to go on their own (Sporza.be). Haven't we seen this before? Oh, right...in last year's Tour de France with Mark Cavendish on Team Sky. He wasn't allowed to sprint for himself, it was all about protecting Wiggins.

More came out today about Frank Schleck's release from Radioshack Leopard Trek. He had been training with them even during his suspension, but yet the team still released him. His own country, Luxembourg, believes that Frank didn't intentionally take this diuretic, and even the UCI admitted that the suspension had nothing to do with doping. Yet, the team still released him. Frank is hoping he can find another team before the Vuelta, although with it being mid-season, that may be difficult. His brother Andy even came out and said, "I will not ride in another team with Frank" (CyclingWeekly, and Sporten.tv2.dk with help of Google Translate).

But anyway, back to Stage 7. Jens Voigt was part of a 6-man attack very early into the stage, but the break only got about 10" ahead before being caught. Then Voigt attacked again, this time with Blel Kadri, and that became the break of the day. Unfortunately, as the two broke away, a crash happened in the peloton involving several riders. Because of his injuries from a crash two days ago, and now this crash, Christian Vande Velde abandoned. This was to be his last Tour de France before retiring, and it's sad he couldn't make it all the way to Paris.

Voigt and Kadri, who earned the KOM Jersey today, were caught 94km from the finish as the sprint teams kept the pace of the peloton high. The problem with that was some of the sprinters fell off the back with the mountains; Andre Greipel, Mark Cavendish, and Marcel Kittel all lost sprint points today to intermediate sprint and eventual stage winner Peter Sagan.

After the intermediate sprint, Jan Bakelants make an attack, which ended up giving him Most Aggressive Rider for the stage. He was quickly joined by Cyril Gautier and Juan Jose Oroz. However, their lead of just over a minute was cut fairly quickly when Daryl Impey's Yellow Jersey was threatened. This breakaway was caught just after the 3km flag.

And as I already said, the winner of the Stage 7 was Peter Sagan, and Daryl Impey stays in Yellow for another day.

Frank Schleck Let Go

Okay, you all know how I feel about the Schleck Brothers, so I'm sure you think I'm biased. I probably am, but I'm still not sure why Radioshack Leopard Trek let Frank Schleck go 11 and a half months into his 12 month suspension. Shouldn't this have happened last July? Or maybe not at all?

Alberto Contador wasn't let go from his team when he came back from his doping suspension. Neither was Christian Vande Velde, although Garmin is built around a strict anti-doping program. But yet, Frank Schleck is. I'm guessing because Radioshack was Lance Armstrong's former team, and they are still trying to clean up from that. Although from what I am reading, Leopard is the one that actually dropped Frank, as that is the sponsor that holds the UCI WorldTour license. However, when Trek picks it up next year, there is a possibility that they could re-sign Frank.

Fabian Cancellara has already committed to 3 years with Trek, and with him on the team, I don't see any reason that Andy Schleck wouldn't want to be there. And we all know that the brothers can't be broken up, so I can see Trek wanting to re-sign Frank.

I've seen rumors (or so I hope that they are just rumors) that the brothers are going to sign with Omega Pharma-Quickstep, becoming teammates with Mark Cavendish. As much as I have grown to love Cavendish, I don't think the team can have both Schlecks and Cavendish. Isn't that why Cav left Team Sky? There was no room for a sprinter on a team build around GC contenders.

I guess we just have to wait to see what 2014 brings.

Frank Schleck sacked by RadioShack-Leopard with immediate effect

(http://www1.skysports.com/cycling/news/12040/8806128/Frank-Schleck-told-RadioShack-Leopard-will-not-welcome-him-back-after-doping-ban)

The Luxembourg rider had been due to return from a doping suspension on July 14, but team owners Leopard have decided to terminate his contract.

However, with Leopard finishing their association with the team at the end of this season, Schleck could rejoin the set-up under its new owners and title sponsor, Trek, for the 2014 campaign.

A team statement read: "With the end of Frank Schleck's suspension approaching, Leopard and its partners have assessed the situation in view of a possible renewal of the collaboration with him.

"Having finalised this assessment in a broad and objective way, Leopard has decided to not renew the collaboration between Frank Schleck and the RadioShack Leopard Trek cycling team. Leopard wishes Frank Schleck a successful continuation of his career."

Schleck tested positive for Xipamide at the 2012 Tour de France and was banned for 12 months.

Leopard have sold their UCI WorldTour licence to the Trek Bicycle Company for 2014.

They have already announced Fabian Cancellara will be part of the team after agreeing terms on a reported three-year deal earlier this week.

2013 Tour de France Stages 4-5

Here is an brief summary of stages 4 and 5 of the 2013 Tour de France:

Stage 4:

This stage was a team time trial. As one of my Twitter-friends said, "A team TT is a perfect blend of teamwork, sport, and art"(c/o @Beal88). I couldn't have said it better myself.

As soon as Cannondale started their TTT, Ted King was dropped. Because of his injuries from the Stage 1 crash, he couldn't hold on to the fast-pace of his teammates. However, unlike a normal stage, the cut-off time is not known until the last team crossed the finish line. Unfortunately, 7 seconds was all it took for Ted King to be outside the time limit.

Going into the TTT, there were two teams that most people thought would win: Team Sky (dominators of last year's Tour de France) and Omega Pharma-Quickstep (TT World Champions). However, it was in fact Orica-GreenEdge that took the win, placing Simon Gerrans in the Yellow Jersey.

As much as I would have loved Jan Bakelants to remain in Yellow some more, with only 1" separating him and a bunch of other riders, I knew Radioshack Leopard Trek could not hold the lead. They aren't exactly a team known for time trials.

Stage 5:

All I really need to say is that this was Mark Cavendish's comeback stage! After getting caught up in a crash in Stage 1, and then fighting two mountainous stages, this was the first chance that we actually were able to see Cavendish sprint to the finish. Not to mention, he is also recovering from bronchitis! He beat Edvald Boassan Hagen and Peter Sagan, respectively, while most of the peloton was held up in the last 200m because of a crash.

As you can see from the sprint photo above, Cavendish, third from right, had the most aerodynamic position for speed! I think it's going to be a showdown between Sagan and Cavendish for the Green Jersey, although Sagan is up by 35 points as of right now. We'll have to wait and see what the road to Paris brings.

It seems to me that Sagan and Cavendish are only contesting the finish line, as Andre Greipel has won all of the intermediate sprints.

2013 Tour de France Stages 1-3

While I don't feel like writing out (or copying) a long blog post, I will update you on what's been going on thus far in the Tour. I'll do a picture for each of the three stages and write a very short summary about them. If you want more details, please visit CyclingNews.com.

Stage 1 - June 29th 2013

How is this to kick off the 100th edition of the Tour de France: the Orica-GreenEdge bus gets stuck under the finish line banner. The finish line was then moved to 3km back when the peloton was 15km away. It was then moved AGAIN to the actual finish line when the bus got cleared in time. With all the confusion, there was a tremendous amount of crashes. In fact, two of the best sprinters, Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan hit the ground, and it was Marcel Kittel who won the stage, and who wore the first yellow jersey. 

While riders were indeed hurt, they all finished the stage, and the finishing times were neutralized because all the events. All of the riders started stage 2.

Stage 2 - June 30th 2013

Although there were no bus crashes today, the brutal mountains hit the peloton hard. It's not usually on the second stage that riders get isolated and dropped from the main group. However, the stage played into Radioshack Leopard Trek's plan. Maybe Jan Bakelants isn't RSLT's GC contender, but he won the stage, and is now sitting 1" ahead of 92 riders. He looks pretty happy to be in Yellow. Let's hope RSLT can defend it.

Stage 3 - July 1st 2013

Today we had our first 2 DNFs, Yoann Bagot, who got food poisioning, and Andrey Kashechkin. Even with all the crashes on Stage 1, we've only just now started seeing DNFs. 

Today's sprint finish showed the world that Peter Sagan can be beat, when Simon Gerrans crossed the finish line a split second ahead. However, the consolation prize for Sagan was the Green Jersey. He was finally able to secure more sprint point than Kittel. 

I am wondering what Sagan is growing on his face though. It's not that I don't like it, I mean it does make him look older, but I just don't feel that it fits him.

...maybe in a few more days, I'll bring you up to speed again. But for now, you have to deal with my very random blog postings.