Posted on 07/12/2006 9:40:51 PM PDT by nutmeg
Stage 11: Tarbes to Val d'Aran/Pla-de-Beret - 206.5km
Course: Any Pyrenean stage that goes over the mighty mountain passes of Tourmalet, Aspin, Peyresourde and Portillon merits the greatest attention from the race favorites - even though this one then continues into Spain for another 40km to finish on the long, but gently graded climb to the Pla-de-Beret summit. If this Tour is going to be a free-for-all, then climbers who want to shoot for the polkadot jersey or a high GC placing must attack on this challenging day. So look for likely KOM candidates to infiltrate the breaks that are bound to form on the narrow, winding roads that precede the Tourmalet. If GC contenders wait until the final climb (13.5km at 5.4 percent) before making a move, they will end up gaining (or losing) very little time.
History: This is the first time that a Tour stage will finish at Pla-de-Beret, but stage 8 of the 2003 Vuelta a España completed a similar course (except for the Tourmalet). At the Tour, the Tourmalet stage in this more difficult west-to-east direction (18.4km at 7.7 percent) has almost always caused major upsets.
Favorites: A stage finishing in Spain has to motivate the Spanish riders. Should a breakaway succeed, look for the Euskaltel team's Iban Mayo, Gerolsteiner's Georg Totschnig or Rabobank's Rasmussen, whereas a larger group arriving at the foot of the Pla-de-Beret will favor Valverde.
I mentioned earlier that all the jerseys were in the peloton, behind the 2 leading groups. Soon thereafter, young Marcus Fothen, wearing the White of the best young'un, bridged to Lanis' group...
Yellow jersey 1:30 back as the Landis group enter the final 20KM. Time for popcorn, the show is beginning.
Cunega and De Le Fuente are off the back already. Done. Finito. But De Le Fuente had his moment in the sun and gets to wear Polka Dots tomorrow.
Levi and Floyd both still look quite strong. :-)
Love this line from cyclingnews:
"By the way, reports are that Mayo packed earlier."
Guess he has a flight to catch...
LOL. 2KM from the "official" start of the final climb. But in reality they have been climbing for almost 20KM already.
Yellow Jersey group starting to fall back some. Gap now 2:00.
De la Fuente has 80 Climber's points.
Rasmussen has 49. If Rasmussen is first over the top of this last climb, he will be at 79 points. Oh, so close.
Yes, Hincapie is in that group.
From cyclingnews:
De La Fuente has been caught by the yellow jeresy group. Cunego has already been reeled in by them. Popovych is there, but no sign of Hincapie.
But they could have missed him tho'...
Not gonna happen, it looks like.
That's true, it's been decidedly uphill since the bottom of the 4th climb.
And after Rasmussen got dropped:
Azevedo, Simoni, Totschnig, Arroyo and Rogers are now also being dropped because of the pace being set by Boogerd on the final climb.
The race jury has just asked the first five riders in today’s stage to bring their bikes to an area at the finish to be checked that they meet the UCI’s rules.
Ruhroh, what's this!?
16:50 - Top Five In Stage Must Present Bikes At Finish...
The race jury has just asked the first five riders in today’s stage to bring their bikes to an area at the finish to be checked that they meet the UCI’s rules.
But... but... I though that 'it's not about the bike'? ;>)
Perhaps that's why Rasmussen dropped :-)
He's obsessed by carrying weight.
Looks like Menchov is the only one with a teammate in the lead group, and I can't imagine Boogerd can last for long if he's driving the pace so high.
LEad group starting to splinter. Multiple riders being shed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.