Critérium du Dauphiné

Stage 6: Crolles  to Alpe-d’Huez,               151.5 km/94mi

By Cathy Mehl

Attack after attack after attack.  That was the scenario on the final climb to L’Alpe d’Huez on Saturday’s stage 6 in the Critérium du Dauphiné.  Astana’s Alberto Contador tried no less than six times to dislodge Team RadioShack’s Jani Brajkovic from the top podium step.  But each time Contador attacked, Jani calmly responded and rode back to the wheel.  A slight grimace on the face of Contador was met with a mask of calm and our 26-year old Slovenian champion who methodically met every challenge and retained the race lead with only one stage to go.  As the duo approached the finish line, Jani led the way but Contador swung around him to claim the stage win.  Crossing immediately behind the Spaniard, Brajkovic lost no time on the mythical mountain and stills hold 1:41 over Contador who rode into second place on the classification.  American rider Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) lost time on the stage and settled into third overall.  Suffering some on the climb, he was coached along by Team RadioShack’s Chris Horner who now holds ninth on the general classification.

“I’m really happy,” said Brajkovic after the stage.  “I wasn’t feeling so well on the second to last climb.  I was pretty much suffering at the beginning of the last climb but then Alberto attacked and I told myself I just needed to pace myself. I was able to answer all the attacks he did but I have to say I was also a little bit lucky because there was a lot of wind and he took all the wind for me.  Wow, I am really happy for this race.  I’m going really well and the team is super happy, Lance is super happy, everybody is happy.  But we still have one day to go so let’s stay calm and see what tomorrow brings,” he concluded.

Jani thanks Chris for his hard work all day

A large early break stayed away for much of the stage but all bets were off once the 13.2km climb began up the 21 switchbacks to Alpe d’Huez.  There was plenty of action on the lower slopes but Contador put his men on the front to drive the pace and Jani stuck like glue to Alberto’s wheel.  One-by-one Contador’s men dropped off, setting up his first attack with 8.8km to go. But Jani was ready and when Alberto put in a strong effort, Jani calmly rode back to him.  Contador waited and tried again, but there was no shaking Brajkovic and no doubt his confidence grew with each solid comeback.   Poland’s Sylvester Szymd of Liquigas put up a strong effort too and with 3km to go the trio of riders were together.  But one final effort by Contador isolated himself and Jani, pitting the two strongest riders against each other for the sprint to the line.   Szymd took third on the stage.

Sunday’s final stage is 150km/93mi from Allevard-les-Bains to Sallanches contains six rated climbs, but with help from The Shack riders and barring any mishaps along the way, Brajkovic will hopefully keep the yellow jersey to win this year’s race.


 

Beyond the Finish Line: In spring and early summer the pastures of the French Alps are ablaze with flowers. These include blue and yellow gentians, bellflowers, lilies, saxifrages and a variety of orchids.  Steep mountain meadows cannot be farmed intensively, and the absence of fertilizers and week killers enables wild flowers to flourish.


Top Ten Results

1              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 4:31:01                   

2              Jani Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack                        

3              Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo    0:00:17  

4              Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun         0:00:24  

5              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:00:40  

6              Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne           0:01:17  

7              Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale           0:01:18  

8              Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                           

9              Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom                                  

10            Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack

Team RadioShack Results

72           Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por)     0:22:17 

94           Ben Hermans (Bel)  0:24:39

97           Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)              

133          Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) 0:31:46

DNF        Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu)

General Classification after Stage 6

1              Jani Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack       24:26:05                

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

3              Tejay Van Garderen (USA) Team HTC - Columbia              0:02:41  

4              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:03:46  

5              Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom                 0:04:01  

6              Jérôme Coppel (Fra) Saur - Sojasun         0:04:17  

7              Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale           0:04:23  

8              Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom      0:05:54  

9              Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack        0:06:10  

10            Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo    0:06:33

Team RadioShack on General Classification

86           Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por)     0:47:30 

115          Ben Hermans (Bel)   1:01:07        

126          Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra)  1:05:49 

148          Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa)  1:22:14