It’s been a roller coaster week in cycling, with the high of the 2010 Tour route presentation, tempered by the low of the passing of a troubled former star. There’s plenty of other things to discuss too as the road season draws to a close, so let's get right into it.
Le Tour 2010
A start on foreign soil in the Netherlands, some killer cobbles in the first week (cycling cliché #219: “you won’t win the race there, but you sure could lose it.”), no time bonuses, the Alps first, a tougher run through the Pyrenees than 2009 with two trips up the Tourmelet and a single long time trial of 59kms as the second last stage of the race which totals 3,600km.
That’s the super-brief summary of next year’s Tour de France but for a look inside yesterday’s presentation of the route, check out the first report from our PEZ reporter on the spot, Erin Berard. Erin covered another kind of Tour de France for us way back in 2005 and being a (recently relocated) Paris local, managed to get some good insight from France’s favourite sons on next year’s race.
Our regular PEZ-Man in Paris, Ed Hood was also at the presentations and found himself on the receiving end of some of the finer words found in the English language as the fastest man in the world made his way through the middle of the Lance Scrum.
With the PEZ Team pouring over the details of the course, to bring you our detailed week by week examination, we figured you might want to hear (or read!) what some of the big players thought of the 2010 edition of cycling’s biggest event.
The Reigning Champ: Alberto Contador: It will be a better Tour for climbers than for rouleurs. Honestly I would have preferred a 10 K shorter time trial and a second one of 20 or 30 K, but I am really happy about the course. It will be a very difficult race to control in the first week, which is particularly difficult with the Paris-Roubaix cobblestones, but I don’t give it too much importance. The most important thing will be not to crash. I hope it will not rain there. The Alps stages will be less hard. The Pyrenees will be twice as hard as this year, especially with the double climb of the Tourmalet, one of them with a mountaintop finish.
The Seven Time Champ: Lance Armstrong: I think it’s an interesting course... The cobbles [in the first week] themselves are dangerous but what is even more dangerous is the run into the cobblestones. The kilometres before, the nerves, the anticipation before, the positioning, that is the most dangerous part. You need obviously an all rounded team but I think you have to take some big guys who can definitely support you in that first week because with the cobble sections you have to be in the front. I remember we did those sections in 2004 and I had great support from Ekimov and Hincapie. We came in the cobble zones first. It makes a big difference.
There will be only 60 K individual time trial but the only thing that is unfortunate for us, is that there will be no team time trial. The race will technically and tactically be much different than this year. You will have more guys who will be factors in the race because of the lack of the team time trial. In 2009 the TTT eliminated half of a dozen guys.
I think the organizers like what they had this year with a summit finish so late in the race. It keeps things close, it keeps everybody guessing. It keeps the riders sharp too. The race will not be decided before the last three or four days. Two times on the Tourmalet is unique too. I like it.
I will be close to 39 years old but the goal and ambition will be to try to win. I’m excited for the whole upcoming season. I like to think that I will be better than last year but Alberto has shown that he is the best in his sport right now; he will be tough to beat.
The Garmin Director: Jonathan Vaughters (giving his thoughts via his Twitter page): “Lots of hills late in the race - and in the Pyrenees - will suit Vande Velde, for sure. Let's hope he doesn't break five vertebrae five weeks before the Tour! Tour route is tough one, for sure. Much harder than 2009.” Vaughters then outlined the ideal scenario for the team, as “Wiggo [Bradley Wiggins] wins the prologue, Tyler [Farrar] wins the cobbled stage and gets yellow. Then Wiggo and VDV [Christian Vande Velde] challenge for the podium.”
Quickstep Boss Patrick Lefevere: asked by Sporza about Boonen’s chances for both the yellow jersey early and the green in Paris, he joked, “We first have to get rid of Fabian Cancellara.” For the other jersey, “Cavendish is unbeatable in pure sprints, but the Tour always ends in Paris. So, Boonen is always a candidate for the green jersey.” Lefevere was also asked about Quickstep riding the race with Alberto Contador (he is top of the Quickstep shopping list if freed from his Astana contract) and sharing the team sprint objectives with a GC challenge, “All depends upon what the UCI licence commission does with Astana. If he comes to us, he can choose four team mates for the Tour. I spoke with Contador’s brother /manager at the Tour presentations and he said that the worst months are behind him, but Alberto will not burn his contract with Astana to create a scandal.” Lefevere added that Quickstep will also not push the matter if it is decided the Spanish Tour star needs to stay at Astana.
Marc Sergeant: Director of World Champ and TdF challenger, Cadel Evans: “We will put everything behind Evans. He is a rider for three week tours and he will be our absolute leader, with Jurgen Van den Broeck a step below. The race itself will have a nervous start, so we will follow the best and see remains in the final week. The time trial in the final week suits Cadel.”
Le Tour 2010 Stages Prologue Saturday 3 July, Rotterdam to Rotterdam 8km Stage 1: Sunday 4 July, Rotterdam to Bruxelles 224km (Flat) Stage 2: Monday 5 July, Bruxelles to Spa 192km (Hilly) Stage 3: Tuesday 6 July, Wanze to Arenberg Porte du Hainaut 207km (Flat) Stage 4: Wednesday 7 July, Cambrai to Reims 150km (Flat) Stage 5: Thursday 8 July, Épernay to Montargis 185km (Flat) Stage 6: Friday 9 July, Montargis to Gueugnon 225km (Flat) Stage 7: Saturday 10 July, Tournus to Station des Rousses 161km (Medium mountains) Stage 8: Sunday 11 July, Station des Rousses to Morzine-Avoriaz 189km (High Mountains Rest Day 1 Monday 12 July Morzine-Avoriaz Stage 9: Tuesday 13 July Morzine-Avoriaz to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne 204km (High Mountains) Stage 10: Wednesday 14 July Chambéry to Gap 179km (Medium Mountains) Stage 11: Thursday 15 July Sisteron to Bourg-lès-Valence 180km (Flat) Stage 12: Friday 16 July Bourg-de-Péage to Mende 210km (Hilly) Stage 13: Saturday 17 July Rodez to Revel 195km (Flat) Stage 14: Sunday 18 July Revel to Ax-3 Domaines 184km (High Mountains) Stage 15: Monday 19 July Pamiers to Bagnères-de-Luchon 187km (High Mountains) Stage 16: Tuesday 20 July Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau 196km (High Mountains) Rest Day 2 Wednesday 21 July Pau Stage 17: Thursday 22 July Pau to Col du Tourmalet 174km (High Mountains) Stage 18: Friday 23 July Salies-de-Béarn to Bordeaux 190km (Flat) Stage 19: Individual time-trial Saturday 24 July Bordeaux to Pauillac 51km Stage 20: Sunday 25 July Longjumeau to Paris Champs-Élysées 105km (Flat)
Vale VDB
The other big news this week was the death of Belgian cyclist Frank Vandenbroucke. Arguably the most talented cyclist of his generation, VDB’s life and career was like a roller coaster and in the past few years there have been more ups than downs.
PEZ’s Ed Hood put together a profile and tribute to the life and times of the 34 year old which charts the highs and lows of the man who was still a huge headline grabber in Belgium, despite his best season on the bike being ten years ago.
Vandenbroucke suffered from depression and with his reported earlier drug problems and two previous suicide attempts, it was not an altogether unexpected shock to hear of his death this week. Early reports from Senegal, where the cyclist was on holidays when he died, have indicated that a pulmonary embolism may have been the cause. A post mortem has been conducted with the details to be released to the family today.
With regard to the circumstances surrounding Vandenbroucke’s death and who he was with in the hours immediately preceding, Police in Senegal have arrested three people, one of who is the woman that the cyclist was said to have spent the night with. The AP reported yesterday that a police spokesperson had said the three may have stolen two telephones and cash from VDB and were trying to leave the area.
Covering the later years of VDB’s career has normally involved some form of scandal or incident that had little to do with cycling, but as a fan, I always hoped he would get one more good year on the bike and have people remember him for his results rather than his other headlines.
Watching the clips and coverage of his career on the Belgian sports websites, one race stands out in many commentators’ eyes and that was the Vuelta stage to Ávila in 1999.
The highlights of the stage are included in this segment from a documentary on Vandenbroucke, with the ride even more remarkable when you consider this story related to us by Ed Hood’s mate Ivan, who had the inside track from VDB’s support staff at the time: VDB told his team that he wanted to spend the night with Sarah,[the girlfriend with whom Frank had a volatile relationship] but, big problem, she was in Ávila. As the team hotel was 200km away, he asked the team for the use of a team car to go and see her but they refused.
VDB's response; "I'm leaving the Vuelta right now if you don't take me there."
The solution; VDB's long-time soigneur Freddy Vianne drove him to Sarah's hotel, waited for him outside until 3 in the morning, and then drove Frank back to the team hotel ready for the start of the stage to Ávila that day.
Vianne asked VDB what he expected to do in the stage after having had no sleep the night before.
VDB's reply; “I'll ride them all off my wheel,” which is exactly what he did.
RIP Frank!
End Of The Road
The road season, that is. With the Mondialisation of cycling meaning you can race a UCI event pretty much year around, there is still a lot of focus on the traditional season closing races in the European heartland of the sport.
Earlier this week the Belgian calendar came to a close with Putte Kapellen and it was the French who claimed the honours in the form of Denis Flahaut. The locals did have some cause for celebration, however, as Flahaut rides for Belgian squad, Landbouwkrediet.
The win, ahead of Stefan van Dijk and James Vanlandschoot, was the fourth of the 30year old’s career (the other three victories all coming in 2007).
Also coming to an end soon is the Italian season, with today’s Giro del Piemonte providing a good springboard into the Tour of Lombardy this weekend.
The Giro del Piemonte will also be the End of the road for Dutchman De Jongh, who is retiring from the sport today. “I still don’t feel like my career’s about to end,” De Jongh said in a press release from his Quickstep team, “It’s just like the sensation I’ve had every year at the end of a season. But every time has its purpose. I’d rather stop while I’m still on top of my game. Yesterday [Tuesday] I competed in the Putte Kapellen and I tried to win up to the very last meter. Tomorrow [Thursday] I’m going to try to enjoy the race, even knowing that it’s to be the last one I’ll be riding with a number on my back.”
Be sure to check out Jered’s full Lombardia race preview and stay tuned to PEZ for all of the roadside action as Mr Hood and Signor Federico take Como by storm.
Sutton Scorching In Herald Sun Tour
It was a case of Ground Hog Day for the riders in the Herald Sun Tor, with more wind and rain and another Chris Sutton win, taking the Garmin rider’s tally to three in a row and a continuation of his time in the race leader’s yellow jersey.
Sutton claimed the sprint win, just nudging out Jonathan Cantwell (Fly V Australia) and Garmin team-mate, Bradley Wiggins in a desperate lunge for the line as the heavens opened up on the waterfront at Barwon Heads.
"I was yelling at the boys from 3k to go and then I told Brad to go 500 metres out. I was going to let him have the stage, as I thought we could take one and two,” an increasingly confident Sutton said after the race.
"But then I could feel riders coming and I thought it could have been either Jonathan Cantwell or Jaan Kirsipuu, so I went for it.”
Cantwell, who has already had a stint in the leader’s jersey this year, again played cat and mouse with Sutton all day, with each of them picking up three bonus seconds in the intermediate sprints and then jousting for the stage win right to the finish.
The Queenslander retains the Budget Forklifts green jersey for the leading sprinter on the Tour but lost four seconds to Sutton on general classification as a result of the stage win bonus that Sutton picked up.
"I'm five seconds behind Chris overall,” said Cantwell after the stage, “For two sprinters to go head to head it's been a bit of a strange outcome so far. But I have 38 seconds up my sleeve on Bradley and when you have an inspirational team, anything can happen," Cantwell said.
Tomorrow’s stage is a 10km individual time trial in Geelong, home to the 2010 World Road championships.
Stage Four – Anglesea to Barwon Heads
1. Chris Sutton GRM 3hrs06:47
2. Jonathan Cantwell VAU same time
3. Bradley Wiggins GRM same time
General Classification
1. Chris Sutton GRM 14hrs10:42
2. Jonathan Cantwell VAU + 5 sec
3. Bradley Wiggins GRM + 43 secs
4. Matthew Wilson AUS + 58 secs
5. Svein Tuft GRM + 1min08
6. David Tanner RRC + 1min38
7. Phil Zajicek VAU + 1min43
8. Aaron Kemps RRC + 1min48
9. Ben Jaques-Mayne BPC + 1min48
10. Bernard Van Ulden JBC + 1min52
Astana Vs. The Shack
Last night the latest round in the “will they / won't they” saga involving rider transfers from Astana to Team Radio Shack took a more positive turn in favour of Lance Armstrong’s new squad for 2010.
With Astana securing new corporate backing to set them up financially for the next three years, their prize possession, Alberto “Contract in Place” Contador looks like he won’t be able to use the demise of the team as his excuse to leave. When the finance was secured, the Kazakh team also suggested that as Bruyneel was also under contract for 2010, they didn’t feel the need to release him to Radio Shack. The Belgian “super-manager’s” response was that he would simply sit out next season, and put the interests of the new team ahead of his personal ones, but it now looks like that situation has been solved.
Bruyneel (and also Yaroslav Popovych) have been released for 2010, with the manager’s spot at Astana to be taken over by former Festina director, Yvon Sanquer. What is still not confirmed is whether the riders who are supposedly riding for Armstrong in 2010 will actually be able to. L’Equipe are reporting that Haimar Zubeldia, Andreas Klöden and Gregory Rast have been told by Astana that they are still under contract for 2010 and at present, will not be going to Team Radio Shack.
Astana Vs. The French
While it looks like Astana is resurrected for 2010, there are reports in the French media that the 2009 version of the squad is under investigation for their use of medical products during this year’s Tour de France.
All of the teams were given containers by the Tour organisers to dispose of medical waste and apparently there are some syringes from the Astana waste that have come in for some close scrutiny.
The team is denying any wrong doing, saying in a statement, “Astana Cycling Team is surprised to read in the French press that the team is involved in an investigation by French prosecutors into doping. These media reports are the first we as a team have heard of an investigation. According to the press articles, the investigation involves a number of cycling teams having participated in the 2009 Tour de France.
The Astana Cycling Team has nothing to hide, the riders use no forbidden substances, the Team is confident in the result of analyses performed or to be performed by a Parisian laboratory and is prepared to cooperate.”
Drapac Kids
Australian Continental team, Drapac Porsche Cycling is continuing its association with the KIDS Foundation charity by raising funds for the group during this week’s Herald Sun Tour. During the course of the year, riders from the team take time out from their training (and study and work commitments) to give their time attending camps, assisting with fundraising and promoting awareness of the KIDS Foundation amongst schools and the broader community.
The KIDS Foundation is a Health Promotion Charity and national leader in childhood injury prevention and recovery. The KIDS Foundation Injury Prevention delivers quality school and community based safety education programs as well as facilities and programs for children with serious burns or life changing injuries and support for their families and carers. For more information on the KIDS Foundation, visit their website – kidsfoundation.org.au
If you would like to make a donation to help support the KIDS Foundation and encourage the Drapac Porsche team at the Herald Sun Tour, head to the Cor Everyday Hero website, click on “Drapac Porsche’s Fundraising Page” and select the "Donate Now" button to nominate the rider or team you wish to sponsor.
PEZ Pals Update
Two young Aussie “up and comers” who we have featured here at PEZ have had mixed fortunes of late. Both Bernard Sulzberger and Richie Porte started the Herald Sun Tour in Australia this week. While Sulzberger has had a great season with Fly V/Australia, winning the overall at Superweek in the US, and then following up with the overall win at the Tour of Tasmania, the Sun Tour hasn’t been quite so kind to him.
Flowery Gully’s finest (well, one of their two finest I guess if you count younger brother Wes who is at FDJ) crashed out of the SunTour on the first road stage and had to be transported to hospital with severe abrasions.
Porte , on the other hand, is keeping out of trouble in the race where he is currently placed 49th overall. Instead of the Aussie tour being Porte’s last big chance this year to snare that all important pro contract, he is now under no pressure (other than to help out his Jayco Natioanl team leader Matt Wilson) as it was announced on the SaxoBank website last week that Porte would be joining the team for the next two years. A deserving result for a guy who has come a long way in a short time and can now look forward to a career with one of the top teams in the business.
For those of you already following Pez on Twitter ( Twitter.com/PEZCycling ), you can also keep track of the latest from both Porte (@porteye) and Sulzberger (@badger83).
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