It’s been a great Tour this year.
The organisers designed a superb route and it pretty much turned out as imagined. A close race which could have gone either way between Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck right up to today’s Time Trial.
The cobbles of northern France gave the race a extra (slightly dangerous) dimension. It’s just a shame Franck Schleck crashed and had to abandon. Things might have been slightly different in the mountains had he been there to support his brother.
As it was, Andy was left to his own devices on the slopes of the Tourmalet. But boy, did he fly up it. He and Contador dropped everyone else; none of the other riders capable of the sheer tempo they were setting. Vitally though Contador had Schelck’s pace covered. I thought at the time that Schleck looked slightly more comfortable than Contador. He was looking right into his eyes, trying to judge how deep he was digging. I don’t know what he saw. But he didn’t inject the spurt of acceleration necessary to try and break him. Maybe he didn’t have it in him. Contador put in an acceleration but Schleck covered it. As a coach told me years ago when I was racing: “If you can put that much effort in to catch back up, why aren’t you putting that much effort in the drive off the front of the race.” Quite. Only Schleck knows how hard he found the climb alongside Contador that day.
In the end, Schleck couldn’t put the time into Contador and went into today’s Time Trial eight seconds down and needing a miracle to beat Contador. Despite an amazing performance against the clock which saw him loose only 31 seconds to his rival – as opposed to the predicted 60-90 seconds – he’s lost the tour by 39 seconds. The closest margin since Greg LeMond’s eight second win over Laurent Fignon in the 1989 edition of the race.
That 39 seconds is, in fact, the exact amount of time by which Contador profitted when Schleck unshipped his chain on the Port de Balès last Monday; the moment now known as ‘Chaingate’. For what it’s worth I think Contador should have soft pedalled tempo rather than attacking so hard. But this is bike racing and sometimes you need a little lady luck shining on you to gain those wafer-thin advantages. Contador is the one that has to live with his conscience.
Barring disaster (derailed chain maybe?) Contador will role into Paris tomorrow and take the Tour crown for the third time. Schleck will be back next year, a little older (he’s only 25) and no-doubt stronger against the clock. I predict a win for him in the Tour within the next couple of years.
What about the British contingent?
Well, Bradley Wiggins didn’t perform as many of us and expected, or even hoped. He’ll finish the tour in 24th place, 39 minutes down. In fairness I think it was a much harder tour this year and he just didn’t have the legs to live with the top guys in the high mountains. Geraint Thomas rode brilliantly in the first week, mixing it with the best riders in the world over the cobbles. He’ll be a contender in the future.
Team Sky have had a bit of a shocker all in all. With Bradley not performing it’s almost as if they didn’t have a plan B. They’ve been in the odd break and tried for stage wins but it hasn’t worked. Back to the drawing board before the Tour in 2011.
The fastest man over 200 metres, Mark Cavendish, had a disappointing start to the tour. But he’s found his form and has racked up four stage wins. He’s 16 points down and there are 35 on offer for the stage win tomorrow. If he can get a few points in the intermediate sprints and his team mates can keep the likes of Petacchi and Hushovd back in the minor places he has a slim chance of the Green jersey. Come on Cav!
Tags: cavendish · chain gate · contador · schleck · thomas · tour de france · wiggins
