Tour de France

Stage 13: Rodez to Revel, 196km/122mi

By Cathy Mehl

Still sporting the red number tag signifying most aggressive rider yesterday, Alexander Vinokourov earned the win he missed Friday by claiming the stage win in a solo victory Saturday in Stage 13.  It was his fourth official victory.  With the battle for the green sprinter’s jersey heating up day-after-day, Mark Cavendish and Alessandro Petacchi sprinted for second and third places, while the jersey left the back of Thor Hushovd and went back to Petacchi as the race heads to the Pyrenees tomorrow.  There was no change for the overall and Saxo Bank’s Andy Schleck continues to wear the yellow jersey by a slim 31-second lead over Alberto Contador (Astana).   Team RadioShack leads in the Teams classification, holding 21-seconds over Caisse d’Epargne.

Team Director Alain Gallopin checked in after the race, commenting on a small crash Lance Armstrong had in the opening kilometers. "Most important today was to survive without injuries. It could have gone wrong with the crash of Lance even before the race started but no problem. He only had a small amount of bleeding on his elbow. From tomorrow in the Pyrenees, it will be war again and we want to be in it.”  Gallopin continued with, “Today was a fast stage. We had wind the whole day and in the end we had a complete tail wind. The sprinters teams controlled the race which was good for us."

After only 5km of racing a break of three went away and established a maximum gap of six minutes.  Once again showing his expertise as a breakaway artist, Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) was joined by Juan Antonio Flecha (Sky) and   Pierrick Fedrigo (Bbox).  Sharing the work load evenly, the trio held a steady gap throughout the day, including more than three minutes over the top of the Cote de Puylaurens with 60km to go.   But by 20km to go the work in the main field by the teams of the sprinters had seen the gap plunge to a mere 34-seconds and by 10km to go the peloton was all together. 

A small climb just 8km from the finish set up the battle ground for the day.  BMC’s  Alessandro Ballan put in a strong attack 1.5km from the top of the climb, but closer to the summit Vino put in his best effort and scorched the pavement as he blew past the former world champion.   Thomas Voeckler (Bbox) tried in vain to reach the Kazakh rider but no one had the fire power and Vinokourov earned the win.

Tomorrow  the race enters the high mountains of the Pyrenees and the heart of this year’s Tour de France.  At 184.5km from Revel to Ax 3 Domaines, the first uphill finish in the region promises just a glimpse of what’s to come from the four days in the south of France.  Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador will battle for yellow, while a whole cadre of riders including The Shack’s Levi Leipheimer, will try to take ownership of the final spot on the podium.  Paris is just a week away now and anything can happen on the roads to the City of Lights.

Beyond the Finish Line:  Although it doesn’t look like much from the outside, the Albi Cathedral has a rich history and is known for its gorgeous interior.  The organ loft was built by Christophe Moucherel in the 18th century.  Its extraordinary size (16.40m wide x 15.30m high or 54ft wide x 50ft high) and the variety of decorations make it one of the finest in France. There is a program of free concerts on Wednesdays and Sundays in July and August.  You could go there tomorrow.  

Top Ten Results

1              Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana        4:26:26                   

2              Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia       0:00:13  

3              Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini                    

4              Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team                          

5              Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                      

6              Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions                     

7              Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux                                

8              Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team                                  

9              Grega Bole (Slo) Lampre-Farnese Vini                     

10            Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale

Team RadioShack Results

22           Christopher Horner (USA)

43           Levi Leipheimer (USA)                    

44           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)

60           Andreas Klöden (Ger)

86           Sergio Paulinho (Por) 0:01:34

99           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)  0:04:35               

100         Lance Armstrong (USA)

122         Gregory Rast (Swi) 0:05:46          

165         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)  0:07:23

General Classification after Stage 13

1              Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank        63:08:40                

2              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 0:00:31  

3              Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi          0:02:45  

4              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank               0:02:58  

5              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:03:31  

6              Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack               0:04:06  

7              Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank                 0:04:27  

8              Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:04:58  

9              Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne       0:05:02  

10            Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:05:16

Team RadioShack on General Classification

20           Andreas Klöden (Ger)   0:09:05

24           Christopher Horner (USA)   0:11:56 

34           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)   0:25:08

36           Lance Armstrong (USA)   0:25:38 

54           Sergio Paulinho (Por)   0:54:18   

67           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)   1:02:51            

126         Gregory Rast (Swi)   1:37:52 

172         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) 2:15:01