Tour de France

Stage 16:  Bagnères-de-Luchon to Pau, 199.5km/124mi

By Cathy Mehl

An attack from the beginning of the stage put seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong into a successful breakaway that held off the peloton all the way to Pau.  Climbing more than 15,000 feet throughout the day, Lance and teammate Chris Horner formed up a group of nine that held a large gap of almost seven minutes at the finish line.  Revving up for the sprint, Armstrong tried to go for the win but it was two-in-a-row for  Bbox Bouygues Telecom with Pierrick Fedrigo  easily taking the victory over  Sandy Casar (FdJ) and  Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne.   With an average age of 33 for the riders in the group, it was a good day for Lance to showcase his good form despite his age as he rides his final Tour.

Overall the general classification did not change and with only four stages to go Alberto Contador (Astana) holds eight seconds over former race leader Andy Schleck of Saxo Bank.  In what is sure to be debated for ages, Schleck’s loss of the jersey yesterday due to either a mechanical or rider error sets up the last chance for redemption in the mountains on Thursday’s mountaintop finish on the Tourmalet.   Contador was again received with mixed reviews from the crowd as he put on his second yellow jersey – some feel he took advantage of Schleck’s situation while others claim ‘that’s racing’, but in any event, this Tour is Contador’s to lose.

“It was a tough day.  I paid at the end,” said Armstrong after the stage.  “I warmed up a little bit before the race and then went at kilometer zero.  200ks in the front took it out of me, I had no sprint at the end but I tried.  I had this day kind of dog-eared in the book but it was harder than I expected.  I felt better as the race went on and toward the middle climbs but it was a tough one.  I think it was a tough day for the whole peloton.”  Asked about his strategy for the sprint, Lance replied, “It’s been awhile since I sprinted.  We knew Fedrigo was the fastest and then Cunego so I tried to catch his wheel but just not quick enough.  (As a team) We did what we wanted to do.  We tried to win the stage and we maintained the Team GC.  Chris Horner had an amazing race.”  When the comment came that it was obvious that ‘Lance Armstrong’s not over’,  he joked, “Lance Armstrong is over in about four or five days but I wasn’t the oldest guy in the breakaway,” referring to breakaway companion Christophe Moreau who is 39 years old.   This will be the last Tour for Lance but he will continue to ride in Team RadioShack colors next year. 

Addressing a comment about his good form and the reaction from the crowd on the road, Lance said,  “I’m alive.  I’ve trained hard.  I’m not the best guy in the race but I still have the spirit of a fighter and focused on the stage and tried to get up in the moves.   I’ve got to say this entire Tour the fans have been really nice to me and very supportive. Today when I was out there with a small group they could get close and talk to you and you can talk back to them.  I appreciate their support.”

“We had hoped that this little group could stay away with five when Lance attacked on the Soulor,” explained Team Manager Johan Bruyneel.  “ Fedrigo looked very strong.  The course wasn’t ideal today to launch an attack and make it to the final  but Lance and Horner were in there.  It was a very hard day and if you have two guys in there you have 25% chance of winning.  But everybody was tired and unfortunately Lance and Horner aren’t really sprinters so it was very difficult.  Once the group got rolling I knew it would be hard for Barredo to stay up front.  I’d hoped we could catch him a little earlier and then Horner and Lance could try some attacks, but in the last kilometer that was not possible anymore.  Obviously disappointed, we wanted to win the stage but it was a great ride by both of them and we tried everything we could.  We have no regrets.” 

Facing a tough day of climbing, Armstrong and Sandy Casar initiated a break that swelled to nine and steadily built a time advantage all day.  The group cooperated well together and showed equal work in the effort to stay away.  Caisse d’Epargne were well represented by Plaza and Moreau as the chase for the Teams competition rolled on, but Team RadioShack equaled them on the day and maintains first place by more than four minutes.  The peloton saw some work from Omega-Pharma Lotto and Astana, but in general the main field rolled easy, no real racing coming from the top ten contenders.  Levi Leipheimer, Jani Brajkovic, Sergio Paulinho and Andreas Klöden stayed together and came in with the main field.  Leipheimer maintained his seventh position on GC, while Horner moved into 14th, followed by Klöden in 16th and Lance now in 25th.   

At 45km to go Barredo decided it was time to fly and the Spanish rider quickly gained an advantage over Armstrong’s group.  The gap initially went out to 45 seconds but the group steadily brought him back to seven seconds at the red kite signaling 1000 meters to go.  Barredo was swept up and Lance tried to sprint at 200m to go, but Fedrigo had the power and the position to take a sixth stage win for the host country.

Wednesday is the final rest day for the Tour as the 172 riders take a day off the bike while they rest, catch up with family and look toward Paris.  Thursday is the final day in the mountains and the only real chance Andy Schleck has of making up time on Contador.  If he wants to win he will have to attack not once, but probably many times to break the will of the defending champion.  Denis Menchov  (Rabobank) and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) still look strong as well, so grab a chair and enjoy the show.  The Tour de France is far from over.

Beyond the Finish Line:  The least-expected thing about Pau is its English connection, which dates from the arrival of Wellington and his troops after the defeat of Marshal Soult at Orthez in 1814. Seduced by its climate and persuaded of its curative powers by the Scottish doctor Alexander Taylor, the English flocked to Pau throughout the nineteenth century, bringing along their peculiar cultural obsessions – fox-hunting, horse-racing, polo, croquet, cricket, golf (the first eighteen-hole course in continental Europe in 1860 and the first in the world to admit women), tearooms and parks.  Who knew!


Top Ten Results

1              Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom  5:31:43                   

2              Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux                       

3              Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                           

4              Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini                          

5              Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack                         

6              Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack                              

7              Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Quick Step                      

8              Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne                            

9              Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step         0:00:28  

10            Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team                 0:06:45

Team RadioShack Results

39           Levi Leipheimer (USA)                   

40           Jani  Brajkovic (Slo)

52           Andreas Klöden (Ger)                     

53           Sergio Paulinho (Por)

63           Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)  0:10:01

69           Gregory Rast (Swi)  0:23:42 

78           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)

General Classification after Stage 16

1              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 78:29:10                

2              Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank        0:00:08  

3              Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi          0:02:00  

4              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank               0:02:13  

5              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:03:39  

6              Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank                 0:05:01  

7              Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack               0:05:25  

8              Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:05:45  

9              Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana        0:07:12  

10            Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions            0:07:51

Team RadioShack on General Classification

14           Christopher Horner (USA)   0:08:52 

16           Andreas Klöden (Ger)   0:11:14                 

25           Lance Armstrong (USA)   0:33:46              

37           Jani  Brajkovic (Slo)  0:53:02

45           Sergio Paulinho (Por)   1:14:38      

87           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)   2:14:21 

115         Gregory Rast (Swi)   2:47:50

157         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)  3:19:33