Critérium du Dauphiné

Stage 3: Monteux to Sorgues, 49km/30.4mi

By Cathy Mehl

“I knew my condition was really at top level for the moment, so I dreamed a bit of a victory, but after I saw the course this morning, the dream was far away,” commented Brajkovic. “There was a lot of wind and the roads were so bad. I really thought I would be too light for this job. On the other hand, I like long distance time trials. I need a long warm-up period. A pity I lost some 30 seconds because of my bike change.  Fortunately Alain Gallopin kept motivating me. My Team Director was a superb coach. He was incredible and yelled me to the victory.”

“At the top of the Côte de la Roque-sur-Pernes Jani had to change his bike because one of the two aero extensions came loose.  That situation was too dangerous,” explained Gallopin.   “He was in the lead at that moment and lost his morale.  We presumed Contador would not have his best fitness level yet so this was our chance to take the stage victory and the jersey. I told Jani not to panic and to stay calm.  I convinced him to use a lower gear than he normally does. This is a big success for Jani and the Team. Jani deserves this. He is obsessed about training. Sometimes he does too much and misses some freshness at the races. Let’s hope this can be a new start for Jani’s career.”

Riding for the win

It was a long effort against the clock on Wednesday with 169 riders taking to the windy 49km course in Provence.  Starting in Monteux, the first half of the course contained a category 3 climb that required 320m/1050ft  of climbing, followed by a descent and flat run to the Rhône Valley.  While not a particularly technical course, the wind and uneven road conditions were plenty to contend with.  After Monday’s crash that took out team rider Haimar Zubeldia with a broken wrist, five of The Shack’s riders started in the first twenty slots.  It was close to three hours later before Chris Horner and then Brajkovic were on course. 

An early time to beat belonged to Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) with a time of 1:02:34.    Rabobank’s Denis Menchov challenged the Norwegian rider but fell short by twelve seconds.  The next big push came from Millar with a time of 1:02:17 and with nine riders still to come in, the rider from Great Britain took over the top of the leader board. 

The course was well-suited to Brajkovic and the Slovenian time trial champion led at both of the two check points.  Storming into the finish line, a quick look at Jani’s face showed he had held nothing back and the results showed it – with two riders to go he was winning by twenty-six seconds, and he’d had a bike change! Young Van Garderen came in next but missed the mark by 53-seconds, slotting in to fourth on the stage.  Finally Contador arrived but was well off the pace by 1:46, a bad day on the bike for the Spanish rider.   There was no one else on course – Jani Brajkovic took the stage win plus the yellow jersey and leads the Critérium du Dauphiné.

Thursday’s stage 4 should present a big challenge for the peloton in the first mountaintop finish for this year’s race.  The riders travel 210km/130mi from Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to Risoul in the longest stage of the race.   Team RadioShack will have their work cut out for them as they work to defend the race lead with four stages to go and the action heats up in Provence.

Editor’s note:  It’s my job to ‘report’ and not gush, but sometimes that isn’t so easy to do – like today for example, but if we can’t show our enthusiasm for the sport, then really what is the point?  I’ve been on the team with Jani for almost five years now and have come to know him better than many other riders.  He is an incredibly nice guy – dedicated to his team, his family and his fans, plus one of the hardest workers I’ve ever seen.  He very much deserves this victory and I’m so happy that his son little Miha is soon getting a stuffed lion!

Beyond the Finish Line:  The race finished near Avignon today, where you will find a 12-th century bridge called the Pont St-Bebezet.  Although most of the bridge was destroyed in a flood in 1668, one of the remaining arches bears the tiny Chapelle St-Nicolas.   People danced on an island below the bridge, but a famous children’s song later put the dancing “on” the bridge instead of below it:  “On the bridge of Avignon they are dancing, they are dancing. On the bridge of Avignon they are dancing all around.”

Top Ten Results

1              Jani Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack       1:01:51                   

2              David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions   0:00:26  

3              Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team         0:00:43  

4              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia              0:00:53  

5              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank               0:00:55  

6              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 0:01:46  

7              Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team      0:01:56  

8              Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram         0:02:09  

9              Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Team Katusha         0:02:14  

10            Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia         0:02:15

Team RadioShack Results

33           Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) 0:03:28

36           Christopher Horner (USA) 0:03:41

53           Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) 0:04:26     

73           Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)                                

74           Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)

81           Ben Hermans (Bel)  0:05:26 

General Classification after Stage 3

1              Jani Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack       10:22:04                

2              David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions   0:00:36  

3              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia              0:00:50  

4              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 0:01:41  

5              Geraint Thomas (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team      0:02:01  

6              Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram         0:02:20  

7              Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team Katusha        0:02:45  

8              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank               0:02:47  

9              Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi       0:02:49  

10            Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale           0:02:53

Team RadioShack on General Classification

23           Christopher Horner (USA)  0:03:54 

120         Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)   0:11:05      

131         Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por)   0:12:01   

139         Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)   0:13:01

156         Ben Hermans (Bel)   0:15:40 

159         Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)   0:17:36 

Photos courtesy of Graham Watson