Tour de France: Stage 13 Live Thread (Saturday, July 15, 2006)

VeloNews.com ^ | July 15, 2006 | VeloNews.com

[nutmeg]

Stage 13: Béziers to Montélimar - 230km

Course: At 230km, this is the longest stage of the race, and together with the likely fast pace and baking hot weather, it could be one of the most grueling, too. It starts at Béziers on the Mediterranean seaboard before cutting across the southeast corner of the Massif Central on winding back roads that are constantly dipping and climbing through the foothills. The critical part of the stage comes with 60km to go, from where the race twists through the spectacular canyons of the Ardèche and Ibie rivers and crests two Cat. 4 climbs before emerging onto the N.102 highway with 25km to go. There's a fast twisting descent to the wide Rhône River, which the race crosses before a flat finish in Montélimar.

History: Surprisingly, for a city of 30,000 and the home of world-famous nougat candy, Montélimar has never hosted a stage.

Favorites: This marathon stage is ideal for a small group to gain a substantial lead in the early kilometers. If potentially dangerous riders like CSC's Fränk Schleck are in the breakaway then the yellow jersey's team won't let the move get too far ahead. Otherwise, there will be little opposition to a break with riders way down on GC. It could suit a rider like Rabobank's Pieter Weening or Davitamon's Chris Horner.

Graphics by CyclingNews.com

[Vision]

Thanks, and what's great is stage 7 and 19 look very similar.

[Ready4Freddy]

Absolutely, iggie! I keep leaving important points unsaid, don't I?

Vision, Bay's post #23 shows the Top 10 overall as of this morning, and how they did in the Stage 7 ITT - they all did very well. The guys that Bay highlighted have to be considered the favorites - they can all climb, and they are good in Time Trials.

Floyd's not bad either. 2nd in this year's first one.

[Ready4Freddy]

I can't imagine that PHO would deliberately give up the yellow at this point, especially in a stage like this. 27-28' could easily turn into 33-35' if PHO doesn't watch it.

Maybe Phonak would rather not defend the jersey tomorrow,

[NittanyLion]

Looks as though they're beginning to pick up the pace...

[Ready4Freddy]

Yes they do! 19's a tad longer, but more downhill toward the finish. It's going to be very interesting to see what speeds the guys can maintain in this 2nd real ITT, after 18 days of racing.

Of course, the ITT can be rendered moot if someone goes medieval in the mountains & blows everyone away...

[Ready4Freddy]

I need to go back & read the dispatches on letour.fr where they talk to the various . Those have a lot of good info on the strategery of the teams, why they let some folks go & chase others. Lots of times info that isn't so obvious to us.

[Vision]

But the mountains seem to favor Landis and the Americans the most.

[Ready4Freddy]

That's "talk to the various directors sportif, I messed up the html...

Chavanel has since attacked & leads the other 3, but:

16:52 - 16km To Go...

Grivko’s hopes of being in contention for the stage appear to be over. He is now 35" behind Voigt, Pereiro, Quinziato and Chavanel... and once Voigt gets a whiff of the win, he shifts into overdrive. That’s exactly what’s happening now and although the Phonak squad has picked up the pace at the head of the peloton, it is still over 27 minutes behind the escapees.

Bear in mind that the 5 leaders are all from different teams, so there are 5 teams in the peloton that ain't gonna be helping up front!

[leilani]

That's his time from the ITT in Stage 7, I'm guessing he's not much of a trialer.

Well he is french. Maybe he's just being sneaky and saving his sweetstuff for the last ITT. Anyway, I'm thinking more of how his mother, sisters & GF at home must feel when commentators say he can't be a factor without explaining why as if everybody knows that poor little ole' Cyril couldn't cycle his way out of a paper bag. Frankly, it seems kinda snarky, and it's almost enough to make me want him to win the whole thing outright.

[Vision]

I think Landis just chased and picked up 3 minutes. I could be wrong though.

[Ready4Freddy]

The Ukranian, Grivko, is now 3" behind the 4 leaders, so Landis et al are 24'50" behind him. Maybe that's what you're seeing?

[Ready4Freddy]

I'm betting on Voigt here, he can dash like few others.

[Vision]

Great ending.

An attack is when a rider tries to get ahead of the Peleton or the group their are with. But what is considered a chase? The left overs of an attack?

[leilani]

LOL! Luv tha 'do, Jens! Man,if he's got a smart agent, he could make a fortune in hair product endorsements!

[Ready4Freddy]

A 'chase' is when the guys behind accelerate to try to reel in riders ahead of them.

[Ready4Freddy]

How the hell do those guys muster the energy to sprint at the end of a 206km run? And how do they even get up on the podium?

[Ready4Freddy]

Make that 230km..., oops

[Vision]

Alrighty, thanks.

[Ready4Freddy]

OMG!!! Bob Roll just said that he heard that Dessel's mother & sisters wear Army boots!! It is getting personal!!! ;>)

[Ready4Freddy]

Wow, Griviko ended up 6'+ behind Jens. He really paid for his attempted attack on the crest of the last climb.