Stage 13
Today's mostly flat stage runs 173.5k from MIramas,
thru Provençe to
Montpellier. I don't expect a lot of shake up
today since the next two
days are beyond brutal as the Tour crosses the
Pyrenees. Monday is a
rest day, followed by a final stage with major
climbs.
Gorgeous day today with highs in the 80s.
This will be largely a sprint stage, with the
winner getting an
additional 35 bonus points and seconds at the
finish. Rasmussen could
do some damage today if he had a mind to.
There are only 162 riders left in the race, and
only 6 teams intact
with all nine men. No word on the condition of
TDC's Triki Beltran
after his head injury.
6:12am - Valverde has abandoned the tour, so Popovych
(TDC) is back in
the white jersey. Bit of a shock about Valverde.
I wonder what's up.
Not a lot up today, everyone taking it easy since
the upcoming three
stages will be torture. Gorgeous day, and tons
of crowds waving
thundersticks into the faces of riders cutting
corners too closely.
Triki is fine, but extremely upset in not being
able to finish the
Tour. Tom Boonen's x-rays show nothing wrong,
and he's been given the
all clear to start training in three days for
the Tour of Spain.
8:15am - Robbie McEwan takes the stage, overall
GC remains pretty much
the same.
Tomorrow and Sunday will be brutal.
Stage 14
5:00am - Alarm set for 5:30, but I've been up since 4:45am.
Today is where is gets good. Starting thru the
gorgeous, vineyard and
sunflower filled fields, then IT'S THE PYRENEES!!!!
It's warm and clear today. Temps in the 80s. Beginning
in Agde, today's
220.5k stage runs thru three CAT4s and one CAT
3 all before the half
way point. Then begins the long slow ascent up
Port de Pailheres, an HC
mountain followed by a final CAT 1 climb to the
finish at
Ax-3-Domaines, where, when the Tour has gone
here, Lance has never
finished first.
There are only 160 riders left out of the 189 than began the Tour.
Scoping out sportline.com for the live updates
before the televised
coverage starts today at 5:30am, I read that
Popovych (TDC) who is now
back in the young rider's white jersey after
Valverde's withdrawal, is
one of 15 riders to attack the peleton. Interesting
move on TDCs part.
Wonder what that's about. Oh, 10min later he's
back in, and ten riders
are in the breakaway.
5:40am We're already past the first four climbs
and feed zone and the
ten-man breakaway gap is 9'10". Out of this group,
only Totschnig and
Garzelli are within an hour from Armstrong in
the overall standings, at
11m43s and 14m21s. Not sure what kind of Jedi
climbers they are. We're
now on our way up the HC mountain.
6:10am - T-Mobile is attacking Armstrong. Jan
and Vino have isolated
Lance away from TDC. Basso is also with them.
Popovych is fighting to
get to Lance. Landis, Rasmussen, and Moreau are
there too. The Big Guns
are going up the HC. wow.
6:20am - Vino has dropped. Since today is in the
Basque region on the
border with Spain, I think Basso is going to
be fighting for the win
today. Right now it's Landis, Ullrich and Basso
with Lance. This summit
is over 6500ft - so there's NO AIR.
6:35am - Leipheimer is now caught up to the Big
Guns - as is Kloden and
another Phonak rider. So Ullrich and Landis now
have help from their
teams. Have no idea where Popovych is.
6:45am - ok - now it's down to Landis, Basso,
Leipheimer, Ullrich, and
Armstrong. Totschnig and Garzelli are about 4'30
ahead of this group.
Massive crowds up this mountain.
6:50am - Totschnig is over the summit. These boys
have a dangerous
descent ahead.
7:05am - They're flying down the hill, with Totschnig
4'30" in front.
No idea what is happening in the peleton.
7:15am - Totschnig has begun the last climb of
the day with 8k to go to
the finish. Lance's group is larger now with
Rasmussen back in, and
Vino has just whipped passed them just before
the CAT 1 (4000ft+)
climb, with the other two members of his T-Mobile
team Ullrich & Kloden
chasing him down. Pathetic.
WOW - TdF GOSSIP - Vino's contract with T-Mobile
is up. He's looking to
jump ship, and has said TDC is the ONLY other
team he'd consider. No
wonder T-Mobile is so disjointed. Vino has been
dropped - that was
fast.
7:25am - Back to five men, Lance, Basso, Ullrich,
Landis, and
Leipheimer. No, THREE - Basso, Lance, Ullrich.
wow - They've just
passed Garzelli.
7:35am - Jan has cracked. It's down to Basso &
Lance behind Totschnig,
who has just won the stage.
7:36am - Armstrong crosses 2nd, sprinting away
from Basso. Ullrich
crosses fourth, with Leipheimer and Landis right
behind. Rassmussen has
just lost an additional 45". The GC will change
after this finish.
WHAT A DAY!!! Totschnig is so happy! Of course
he can barely stand
since his legs are rubber now...... Who the hell
knows where the rest
of TDC are - probably taking it easy to get ready
to help Lance
tomorrow in the hardest stage of the Tour.
New top ten in the GC:
1. Lance ARMSTRONG 55h58'17.000''
2. Mickael RASMUSSEN
1'41.000''
3. Ivan BASSO
2'46.000''
4. Jan ULLRICH
4'34.000''
5. Levi LEIPHEIMER
4'45.000''
6. Floyd LANDIS
5'03.000''
7. Francisco MANCEBO
5'03.000''
8. Andréas KLÖDEN
5'38.000''
9. Alexandre VINOKOUROV 7'09.000''
10.Christophe MOREAU
8'37.000''
There will be some sadness tomorrow on the first climb for Lance:
Armstrong to honor memory of fallen friend Casartelli
By JEROME PUGMIRE, AP Sports Writer
July 16, 2005
MONTPELLIER, France (AP) -- Lance Armstrong
will have more on his
mind
than just racing when he completes a rough stretch
in the Pyrenees.
It's been a decade since Armstrong's friend and
teammate Fabio
Casartelli died after a high speed crash in the
mountains. In Sunday's
15th stage of the Tour de France, from Lezat-sur-Leze
to Saint-Lary
Soulan, the six-time winner will pass by the
spot where Casartelli fell
on July 18, 1995, and remember.
``It's going to mean a lot,'' Armstrong said.
``This is the 10-year
anniversary, which goes to show just how time
flies. It feels almost
like yesterday when we were descending the Portet
d'Aspet and I saw him
there.''
Casartelli, the 1992 Olympic road race
champion, was traveling about
53 mph when he crashed in a downhill sprint with
several other riders
after completing the Col du Portet d'Aspet, a
difficult climb in the
Pyrenees.
``The death of Casartelli was the worst experience
ever, by far,''
Armstrong said. ``Bad days on the bike can never
compare to someone
dying in a race, especially a teammate who you
had dinner with the
night before.''
Armstrong has passed the same spot several times
on training runs, but
says the grief is still there when he does.
``It's always a tough moment,'' Armstrong said
in a lowered voice. ``He
was a great guy, great guy and ... I'll ride
with his memory on Sunday
for sure.''
Ten years ago, it was business as usual. Armstrong
chatted to the
genial, fun-loving Casartelli before they set
off to race the stage in
the last year of Miguel Indurain's five straight
wins.
``Talking to him five minutes before the race
... you can't ever come
close to that,'' Armstrong said. ``When you see
a guy crashing, you get
flashbacks.''
Race organizers will place flowers at the site
and hold mass, an
official said. Armstrong will attend a small
ceremony with some of his
and Casartelli's former Motorola teammates. He
will also be reunited
with Casartelli's family.
``His wife and son will be here, his parents will
be here,'' Armstrong
said. ``Which is incredible, added motivation
for me.''
When Armstrong visits Casartelli's grave, he does
so alone, shielding
and preserving the intimacy.
``I tend to not be public about it. When I go
to Italy and visit the
graveside, I don't have a press conference,''
Armstrong said. ``It's a
private, personal visit between me and him.''
Stage 15
4:30am - I have no idea how I am awake. Today's
stage is the BIGGIE. It
is known as The Queen of Stages because of it's
difficulty. It runs
205.5k from Lézat-sur-Léze through
a single CAT 2 over COl du Portet
d'Aspet and Fabio Casartelli's monument, a fellow
teammate of Lance who
was killed on the descent from this summit ten
years ago during the
Tour, over four CAT 1 climbs, to the final HC
climb up Pla-d'Adet at
the finish. It's long, it's grueling and it's
dangerous. And it's going
to be one hell of a stage. It wouldn't surprise
me if Lance isn't the
last man standing at the end of it, going for
the win in memory of his
fallen friend. Today we'll see who is hurting
after yesterday's stage.
Weather is scattered clouds in the 80s.
5:00am - Breakaway of 14 riders containing George
Hincapie (TDC) are
ahead with a Gap of 18'05" halfway thru the stage
and just over the
first CAT 1 summit. There are five monster climbs
to go. The peloton
has already begun to splinter.
Apparently Fabio Casartelli's wife told Lance
to win the stage today.
NO PRESSURE! Many riders are wearing a sweatband
on their arms that
says "Fabio" on it. Very nice touch.
5:10am - The peloton, being driven by TDC has
just gone over the first
CAT 1 summit.
I don't know what the French pave their roads
with, but one of the main
dangers in today's stage is melting tarmac, and
it's only in the 80s!
5:30am - Gap is now 19'05".
One of the most amazing aspects of this sport
is the sportsmanship -
Ivan Basso (CSC) had a flat tire, and had to
drop off the back after driving
the front of the peloton, two riders waited with
him to pace him back
in, the peloton slowed to wait for him as well.
No one ever attacks
when there is a disadvantage to another rider.
If you win - you win man
to man, not taking advantage of someone's misfortune.
There was once a
rider who would attack when the peloton slowed
for a "nature break".
Everyone got sick of his bad sportsmanship and
finally when he was off
having his moment in the bushes, the peloton
took his bike, and left it
miles up in a ditch.
6:00am - Gap is down to 16'20", with only 10 riders in the break.
6:30am - Gap is 14'39", break is now 6 riders.
Up the 4th climb of the
day and they're flying up the hill with Sastre
(CSC) driving the
peloton, followed by four TDC riders including
Lance. Basso, Rasmussen,
Vino and Ullrich are not far behind. . Masses
of people.
6:40am - The peloton has splintered, CSC has disappeared,
T-Mobile has
broken apart, and TDC is the only team with several
members at the
front pacing Lance.
7:00am - Gap is now 11'15".
7:30am - Basso has jumped ahead, taking Lance
and Ullrich with him up
the 2nd to the last climb of the day. Gap is
9'.
There are melting spots all over the roads -
it will be a miracle if no
one wipes out today on these descents.
7:50 - Lead break is now down to three men including
Hincapie. Gap is
now 7'45" up the final HC climb to the finish.
8:00am - Basso jumps again with Lance, leaving
Ullrich. You can hardly
see the road for all the people.
8:17am - GEORGE HINCAPIE of TEAM DISCOVERY CHANNEL
- best friend of
Lance, has JUST WON HIS FIRST STAGE IN THE TOUR
DE FRANCE!!!! And up
the Mother of all stages as well. What a finish!
He should move up in
the overall GC.
8:22am - Basso and Lance cross the finish, then
Lance goes straight to
the trailer where George is, and gives him a
big hug!
New top 10 GC standings:
1. Lance ARMSTRONG 62:09:59
2. Ivan BASSO
2:46 behind
3. Mickael RASMUSSEN 3:09
4. Jan ULLRICH
5:58
5. Francisco MANCEBO 6:31
6. Levi LEIPHEIMER
7:35
7. Floyd LANDIS
9:33
8. Alexandre VINOKOUROV 9:38
9. Christophe MOREAU 11:47
10. Andréas KLÖDEN
12:01
George moves up into 18th place.
Tomorrow is a rest day, followed by one more day in the mountains.
