Stage 13 Report By Bob Roll Mellow Johnny Blues: Part 3 The trilogy of idiotic behavior on Tour de France continued, as Floyd Landis and the Phonak team let the jersey go. They gave it to Oscar Pereiro. Pereiro is a descent climber, who started the day 42nd overall and almost a half-hour down. But in his wildest dreams, Pereiro never thought he’d get the jersey in this year’s Tour. He’s not racing that well. He couldn’t even win the stage, but he gets the yellow jersey. Because nobody wants it. Nobody wants to keep it. Nobody wants the responsibility. None of these riders grew up hungering for it, apart from Floyd Landis. But being a part of a team that has never been there before might prove to be a very difficult situation for Floyd to overcome. Floyd has the legs, but I’m not sure if the team has what it takes to defend the yellow jersey -- and understand the significance of letting any breakaway get a half and hour and what that does to the morale of the other riders in the race like Menchov, Sastre, and Evans. If in fact they see this as a sign of weakness -- like lions looking at a crippled gazelle on the plains of the Serengeti -- they are going to attack without mercy and with a fury that Floyd Landis, himself, will have to contain. Lance Armstrong -- in seven years of dominating the Tour -- never let a breakaway like that getaway with one set of mountains to go. That’s just the thing that Phonak doesn’t need to face. They don’t need another bit of stress like that. Sacrifices have to be made to win the Tour. If it means making your men ride on the front until they pass out, well, that is one of the things you have to do. If you’re unwilling to do that, you don’t deserve the yellow jersey. Tomorrow, Phonak is going to have to do tempo anyway. Oscar Pereiro is not a big threat on GC, but it sends a very bad message to the rest of the riders in the peloton. If you don’t need to face this situation, why would you go ahead and incur the type of wrath that is going to come from Menchov, Evans, Sastre, etc., as the race goes into the Alps? The decisive stages are still to come. Oscar Pereiro inherited an incredible gift from the Phonak squad. Jens Voigt deservedly won the stage. But like Lance said a couple of years ago, no gifts.
He rips Phonak a new one...
Wow, interesting comments from Bob Roll. We'll soon see how it all shakes out...
I don't understand how a team must "ride till they pass out" in order to defend one of its members who has the yellow jersey...
I thought the maillot jaune was based on each individual's time; so I am having difficulty following this. How would it help Landis if his team keeps up with another team on a breakaway, when they all are staying ahead of Landis?
Or is it that they pull "in the front of the line" while Landis rides behind them, keeping his time better and his legs moderately fresh?
Would you be willing to explain in more detail, please?
Cheers!