Stage 7, and it’s doomsday for the overall favourites. Crashes and splits have to be forgotten, today is the big day for them, it’s the Queen stage, which take the riders over Col du Glandon, before the well-known Alpe d’Huez, “the Dutch mountain,” finishes the stage after 141 kilometers of racing.
It’s another beautiful day for cycling, and it is looking set for the overall favourites, Spilak Dekker Contador
are given an edge by the bookmakers. Hopefully Contador isn’t hurted from yesterday’s crash, but we shall wait and see, I guess. Also, everyone is asking themselves whether race leader Siutsou
can hold to the jersey his magnificent ride yesterday gave him.
We have our first attack after 8 kilometers of racing. After the successful breakaways on the previous stages, we’ll for sure have quite a fight for getting in the breakaway today. 7 riders are off first, they’re Kunshin Serrano Guldhammer Fiedler Signorini Lang
and 16th overall, only 10 minutes behind Siutsou, Löfkvist
But they only get 6 kilometers out in front, Pendleton’s
look determined to chase down dangerous riders early in the morning it seems.
Kunshin Löfkvist Guldhammer
launch another attack, this time they’re followed by Serrano Perget Signorini Ljungblad Rohregger Popov Plaza
Some good climbers in there, and it looks like Plaza has recovered well from yesterday's crash, and Jack Wolfskin are looking to “revenge” a bad Dauphine so far.
Löfkvist
takes the mountain sprint, ahead of Guldhammer Kunshin
Plaza’s group follows half a minute behind.
115 kilometers left, and the two groups up the road come together, meaning there are 10 riders up front, looking for the stage win, and possibly a good overall placing. The 10 riders in the breakaway are: Kunshin Serrano Löfkvist (Saab), Guldhammer Rohregger Ljungblad Perget Popov Plaza Signorini
They’ve built a decent lead back to the peloton, the gap is now 2’15.
As we hit the the steep gradients early on the second climb of the day, Bontenackels
isn’t happy not being in the breakaway. He blasts away from the peloton, and is companied with Mendes & Vastaranta
in his slipstream.
Löfkvist
sets the pace with 107 kilometers left, they’re about to take on the flat section on the second climb of the day, and Ljungblad
can’t stand the pace of his countryman's pace, and has to let the others go.
Plaza
looks to be hunting the polkadot today, he started the day with 8 points, on the 2nd climb, a 10 pointer, he attacks to get maximum points, in front of Guldhammer Löfkvist
Their early move looks very promising now, with 95 kilometers left, their gap is 7’10.
Bontenackels
who missed the breakaway struggles to gain time on the front group, he goes over the summit almost 3 minutes behind, but 4 minutes ahead of the peloton. He has dropped the duo from Pearl Adidas in the process.
Plaza’s
acceleration towards the top of the climb forced a split in the breakaway, and when they’re back on the flats, with 77 kilometers left, only 4 riders are able to stay with Plaza. They’re Kunshin Guldhammer Löfkvist Rohregger
It’s a group of strong climbers, with Plaza, Löfkvist and Rohregger holding the upper hand in the high mountains, at least according the stats. The peloton will need to work hard to catch them.
Plaza
is allowed to roll first over the intermediate sprint, ahead of Guldhammer Rohregger
But the peloton has decided they can’t give them as much as they gave Siutsou yesterday, and they’ve started to take back some time. 68 kilometers left, the gap is 6’35.
The peloton takes on Col du Glandon, 6 minutes behind the front 5. It’s mainly Warner Brothers and Wikipedia working, Spilak Phinney
must be feeling good. Already, the peloton is down to only 68 riders, meaning a lot of riders could struggle with the time limit today.
6 kilometers away from the summit of Col du Glandon, the 5 riders up front are still together, working wellr. The better climbers probably don’t want to drop the others on the climb, as their help could prove useful on the descent, to not mention the flat run-in to the foot of Alpe d’Huez.
They reach the summit, and there’s another sprint for the mountain points on offer. This time Plaza
inches Löfkvist
for the 20 points on offer. Guldhammer
follows third over the summit. They will need to go fast on the descent, as the peloton is determined today, they’ve brought their gap down to 4’20 with 47 kilometers left.
Pinot
leads the peloton over, and they’re definitely not going slow, like they did yesterday. There are only 36 riders left in the peloton, with Contador
being one of the last to survive. Also, Pendleton’s are doing brilliant to defend Siutsou, they’ve got both Faiers & Menchov
up in front to help him.
Going over the top, Pinot
really stretches it, and many riders are not even able to stay in touch with the rider in front of them. Of course, it leads to splits, and Hugenhaben Contador & Serpa Rodriguez
suddenly finds themselves in A2. Who’s in A1 then? Barredo
was the one creating the split, not able to follow the pace, and he takes Pedraza Uran
and 5th placed overall, Rogers
They suddenly find themselves chasing in the descent 40 seconds behind the peloton. Contador’s group is another 50 seconds closer to the summit of Glandon. This really hasn’t been Uran’s Dauphine Libere. He has, just like Contador, been on the wrong side of “things” most of the time.
The splits mean we only have 17 riders in what’s left of the peloton. Spilak
don’t want to take any chances descending, and hits the front of the group.
Löfkvist
leads the front 5 through today’s final intermediate sprint. The descent really played in the breakaway hands, their lead is still 5 minutes, and it seems like we’re watching another day of a breakaway win.
No else than race leader Siutsou
leads the group of favourites through the intermediate, most riders in the group are taking their turn at the front of the group. Let’s have a look on who’s in the group then. From Pendleton’s race leader Siutsou is here, and he’s companied by Faiers, 21st overall & Menchov, 12th Phinney, 3rd overall & Pinot, 24th overall Spilak, 2nd overall Kashechkin, 9th overall Iglinski, 10th overall Dekker, 4th overall & Pecharroman, 57th overall Amador, 6th overall & Riblon, 64th overall Ardila Cano, 40th overall & Perez Sanchez, 37th overall Bakelants, 7th overall Arroyo, 8th overall Taaramäe, 11th overall
Rohregger
decides to attack early on Alpe d’Huez, but Löfkvist
looks strong, motoring side-by-side to Rohregger, only sitting there, and pedaling in his own rhythm.
And off he goes! Löfkvist
is looking for the stage win and a better overall placing here. Plaza
struggles to keep up with him.
But Plaza
brings him back, just like Löfkvist did with Rohregger,, riding his own rhythm. Kunshin Guldhammer
show no intentions of letting the 3 others go, they’re still hanging on. There's 9 kilometers left.
Back in the group of favourites, Spilak
sees that Dekker
is placed at the back of the group, and hits the front, looking to gap them all.
Plaza’s
pace force Kunshin
and somewhat surprisingly Rohregger
to let go. The acceleration Rohregger put in on the early slopes was too much for him it seems.
Plaza Löfkvist
are side-by-side now, chasing history at the top of the legendary Alpe d’Huez. They’ve dropped Guldhammer
now, it’s all about the two of them.
6.6 kilometers to go with the group of favourites, and Faiers & Menchov
are at the back of the group, but there are good news for Pendleton’s. When they look up the road, they see Siutsou
defending very well, he’s still hanging on. The yellow jersey makes him fly today.
Contador
doesn’t look too bad after yesterday’s crash. In fact, he’s catching the rest of the favourites with 5700 meters left! Impressive climbing from him, he has taken 2 minutes on them in 7 kilometers of climbing. Serpa Uran
follow just behind, they all want to show themselves.
Contador
sweeps past Siutsou
at the back of the group of favourites. Siutsou looks to be in difficulties now, but there’s only 4600 meters left, he still stands a chance of keeping yellow. The 8 others in the group are: Dekker Phinney Taaramäe Amador Kashechkin Iglinski Spilak Arroyo
Plaza
says goodbye to Löfkvist
and powers away from him with 2.8 kilometers left of the stage.
4 kilometers left for the favourites, and Taaramäe
attacks. He’s immediately followed by Iglinski Contador
What a day Contador is having! First he easily catches the favourites, and now he’s attacking them all.
A punch from a spectator, clearly not enjoying the Spaniard's performance, doesn’t stop Contador
He’s unstoppable today! He blasts past Taaramäe Iglinski
and quickly opens a gap of 30 seconds to the other favourites.
And there it is, Contador's acceleration was too much. Siutsou
can’t follow Arroyo’s
rear wheel, but he gets his act together, and starts fighting the last 3300 meters of climbing. It’s been a remarkable climb from Siutsou so far, but he can’t stop now, he needs to keep his pace, if not, the yellow jersey will definitely be lost.
2800 meters left, and the favourites step it up a notch. Taaramäe
launches once again, and once again he’s followed by Iglinski
But this might be it, Dekker Phinney Spilak
follow. And they really need to follow, as Siutsou
has made contact again! Unbelievable, it’s not like the favourites are going slow, but he simply catches them again. Incredible fighting from Siutsou!
Plaza
crosses the line first at the top of Alpe d’Huez. He has defended the Dutch traditions in the best way possible, taking a brilliant win. He doesn’t have time to celebrate though, he’s looking to advance in the overall standings aswell.
Dekker Amador Phinney Spilak
catch Contador
and breakaway rider Kunshin
with 1600 meters left. They’ve gapped the others, but have Spilak gapped Siutsou
with enough? He’s chasing only 100 meters behind, doing whatever he can to save the jersey!
It looks like Contador
only was waiting for them, he immediately attacks when Dekker
goes past him. They’ve got a small gap back to Amador Phinney Spilak
Siutsou
continues to loose ground, but he’s fighting for his life. It seems like he finds motivation in Arroyo’s
rear wheel, who’s only a few meters ahead of him.
Lövkvist
crosses the line in 2nd, almost 2 minutes behind Plaza. But nonetheless, a great ride from him, which surely will improve his overall placing.
Guldhammer
takes 3rd, just ahead of Contador
who really impressed today, a remarkable climb! Rohregger Dekker
are 5th and 6th, and they’ll probably be given the same time as Guldhammer.
Siutsou
with the help of the devil, catches Arroyo! But he’s totally exhausted, and doesn’t manage to sprint properly on the final meters, just sitting down and giving every turn on the pedal his maximum. This could be a real touch and go for the jersey.
Just to make it worse for Siutsou, Spilak
sprints strong, knowing he needs as many seconds as possible to Siutsou, and gaps Amador Phinney
in the sprint for 7th. Kaschehkin
follows in 10th, a few seconds behind Phinney.
Taaramäe Iglinski
gap Kunshin
in the sprint for 11th. But look behind, that’s the yellow jersey arriving!
Arroyo
gives Siutsou
a helping hand at the end, sprinting past him, gaining a second or two for Siutsou. But is it enough? The clock shows they’re 5’14 behind stage winner Plaza. Oh yes, it’s just enough! Siutsou holds on to yellow by 16 seconds. Amazing climbing from the Belarusian, now there’s “only” one hilly stage to survive.
Several riders failed the time limit today, and are out of the race. They're: De Haes & Nizzolo Navardauskas & Østergaard Machado Bourdouxhe Echarri Vinter & Drucker
A great stage, Alpe d'Huez really served it's reputation as an epic mountain, giving us great racing today. And the battle for yellow is still going strong. Siutsou goes to the final stage with a 16 seconds lead over Spilak. Will he hold on?
