Levi Leipheimer's form seems to have reappeared (where it went to begin with may prove to be as big as a mystery as who shot JFK), as he finished second in today's brutal 5 catergorized mountain stage. Where he ends up in the GC will be determined by how much he takes the fight to his rivals. His Gerolsteiner team also proved itself as Georg Totschnig and Marcus Fothen showed their own wares in the mountains.
Where in the wide, wide, world of sports did Rabobank come from? Sure, some saw Denis Menchov as a darkhorse for the crown, as well as Michael Rasmussen as a real contender for the Polka-Dot jersey, but their teamwork was outstanding today. If you thought Levi's resurrection has been amazing, what of Michael Boogerd's mountain exploits? The man for the bergs looked like a goat today dancing up the final climb to put some of the contenders into marked difficulty.
The only person(s) more difficult to find than Waldo these days is any rider from Discovery Channel. I chose the team, with heavy heart, to be the Tour's biggest disappointment and so far they haven't disappointed. Neither Jose Azevedo, George Hincapie, or Yaroslav Popovcyh could stay with the leaders. Let's all hope they sort out their leadership and represent in the Alps. Or maybe not, from Cyclingnews.com:
Johan Bruyneel: “It certainly wasn’t a good day (for us). We hoped we’d have 2 or 3 in the lead group on the Portillon, but so many of them didn’t seem able to follow. I wondered whether it might happen, as after the TT our level wasn’t up to that of the other teams …. maybe the Tour de France isn’t for us this year. We have to forget the overall classification and look for stage wins.”
On Discovery's chances for this year's Tour de France.
Iban Mayo looks to be heading off the bike (or at least away from Grand Tours). His abandoment today and lack of form in his beloved Pyrenean Mountains is reminiscent of his 2004 Tour campaign, which cannot be good for the confidence of a man who once made Lance Armstrong suffer in the mountains.
On Mayo's Grand Tour career.
Harbinger of Doom:
The latest inception of the T-Mobile trident attack (Andreas Kloden, Mick Rogers, and Patrik Sinkevitz) proved to be as effective as the previous one. Hats off to the boys in fuchsia however, as their tempo up the penultimate climb certainly made the race today. Although they may be smarting tonight, all three are well placed and could cause some difficulty in the Alps.
Poor Cyril Dessel; the only Frenchman in recent memory not to defend the Maillot Jaune for at least one day. I guess he had it coming though. As T-o-03 mentioned yesterday, Juan Miguel Mercado simply stayed on Dessel's wheel in the final kilometers of yesterday's Stage 10, before sprinting for the win. Apparently, as most breakaway companions do, Mercado earlier offered the Frenchman a deal; his cooperation all the way to the finish so that the Frenchman (who virtually possessed the Yellow and Polka-Dot jerseys) could pad the time of his lead in exchange for the Stage win. The greedy Frenchman declined intimating he wanted it all. As a result, Mercado stopped working, sprinted past for the Stage win, and now Landis is ahead of Dessel by 8 seconds. See what happens when you don't play nice? What went around certainly came back quickly on Dessel.
On Dessel's day in yellow.
Harbinger of Doom:
3 comments:
Phil Liggitt said that Dessel has a hearing problem (of convenience?) and perhaps failed to properly hear Mercado.
They also said that Phonak Hearing Systems got him an implant...but there may have been something lost in the translation.
There always seems to be something lost in these translations, which I think leads to some of the misunderstandings in the sport (i.e., "How much EPO did you say was legal to use?" instead of "What do you mean EPO isn't legal to use?"
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