Tour de Luxembourg

Stage 4: Mersch to Luxembourg 149.5km/93mi

By Cathy Mehl

After a week of sunny, hot weather the peloton of 103 was met with something very different late in the race on Sunday for the final stage of the Tour de Luxembourg:  torrential rains, lightening and flooding, resulting in a shortened race.  This means for the overall general classification the results were clocked with one lap to go, marking the final general classification of Matteio Carrara (Cavansoleil), Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) and Team RadioShack’s Lance Armstrong.   Andreas Klöden and Gregory Rast took eight and 9th on the classification and Team RadioShack took the win in the Teams Classification for the sixth time this year.

The shortened stage win went to Gorka Izaguirre (Euskaltel-Euskadi), followed by Steve Houard (Skil-Shimano) and The Shack’s Tiago Machado for third. 

“I have a good feeling after this race,” said Lance at the end of the stage.  “We were always in the front to avoid problems and accidents, but obviously we felt good.  Now we will have to make more progress for the Tour of Switzerland and the Tour.  The decision in the rain today was the right decision.  With the carbon wheels it’s hard to brake.”  Asked if he was impressed by Schleck’s form, he said, “You know, there are a lot of climbs here but no long climbs and no long TT’s.  That’s what we will do in Suisse.  Then we will have the answers.  For now I feel strong.  My recovery was good.  I was glad to stay upright.”

Team Manager Johan Bruyneel added, “Lance needs Suisse but it looks good.  Luxembourg was necessary anyway after he missed California.  He needed the rhythm of competition.  Here we had four days of up and down.  It was hard.  We had good weather until the last 20 minutes, which is also good for the condition.  He was always in the front to avoid trouble, but to be in the front you have to be good.”  Asked to compare Lance’s form this year to same time last year, Bruyneel answered with “Honestly we don’t know.  Last year it was the Giro.  That was more intense, longer mountains and a lots of competition.   I think with the combination of California-Luxembourg-Suisse we can reach the same level as last year.  Maybe he will be more fresh because there is more recovery between the races now. 

An early escape of six riders took off soon after the gun and  established an advantage of three minutes to the main field.  When the peloton started the first of five 7.7km/4.8mi laps, four riders were swept up, leaving only two leaders to contend with.  But then the rain hit and flooding followed as did crashes in the peloton.  The Shack’s Bjorn Selander was part of a crash and had to abandon but should be fine.  A sprint finish followed with Izaguirre emerging the victor.

When a reporter commented that Lance is always seen smiling before and after the races, Johan agreed, saying, “Yes he enjoys all of this.  That’s why he still races.  What he likes the most is riding the bike.”

 Top Ten Results

1.            IZAGUIRRE Gorka            EUSKATEL - EUSKADI      3.01'23" 

2.            HOUANARD Steve           SKIL - SHIMANO               3.01'23" 

3.            MACHADO Tiago              TEAM RADIOSHACK        3.01'23" 

4.            KLEMME Dominic              TEAM SAXOBANK            3.01'23" 

5.            GENIEZ Alexandre           SKIL - SHIMANO               3.01'23" 

6.            FANKHAUSER Clemens                 VORARLBERG - CORRATEC           3.01'23" 

7.            CASTROVIEJO Jonathan                EUSKATEL - EUSKADI      3.01'04" 

8.            SCHNEIDER Nico               CT DIFFERDANGE             3.01'23" 

9.            STANNARD Ian SKY PROFESSIONEL CYCLING TEAM          3.01'23" 

10.           ROVNY Ivan        TEAM RADIOSHACK        3.01'23"

Final General Classification

1              Matteo Carrara                 VAC       17u43'21''           

2              Fränk Schleck   SAX           0'01''    

3              Lance Armstrong   RSH    0'30''    

4              Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni    SKY          0'34''    

5              Sergueï Ivanov   KAT                     

6              Björn Leukemans   VAC                  0'35''    

7              Alexandre Geniez   SKS                  0'39''    

8              Andreas Klöden   RSH      0'50''    

9              Gregory Rast      RSH         0'51''    

10            Sandy Casar        FDJ          0'52'

Team RadioShack on Final General Classification

18           Ivan Rovny     1'07'

56.          Tiago Machado    15'05"