The Ecstacy and the Anguish
Just when every one thought Landis will win the Le Tour this year, and, it has become too predictable for final stages, Landis failed at a mountain test. No one had anticipated it. Not even Oscar Pereiro who now has the yellow jersey:
“We never reckoned on Landis struggling as he did,” said Pereiro, who spent four years with the Phonak team before leaving last year. “It was an important step for me today towards the yellow jersey, but Landis showed anybody can have an off-day.”
The day belonged to Michael Rasmussen as BBC reports:
The dramatic collapse of the Pennsylvanian overshadowed an incredible performance from Rasmussen, who won all four climbs over five-and-a-half hours of gruelling riding in sweltering heat… He led them over the 2,642m Col du Galibier, the highest point of this year’s race, before dropping Casar, then Valjavec on the second major climb, the Col de la Croix-de-Fer.
Read the BBC live report on the most exciting day of Le Tour so far. When an emperor dies, his vast kingdom is broken into many small fragments. We are seeing that this year in the first year post the Armstrong retirement. Armstrong was at Le Tour today as well as he saw the cyclists battle for the spoils.
What’s left of the tour now? Stages 17, 18, 19 and 20. The mountain stage and time trial promise a lot. Then, we have the final sprint to victory of course.
Pereiro is the favourite now like Landis was yesterday looking at his first ITT performance and expert opinions of fans looking at strengths. It has been unpredictable in this tour right from the start though.
Some one who wasn’t well versed with Le Tour asked me when it started this year, “Why are they showing people cycling for hours and hours on Ten Sports.”
There are millions of strategies and sub plots in the Le Tour. For a start, I recommend It’s not about the bike. You come face to face with the desire which makes a champion. You also get introduced to the peletons, setting the pace and more fascinating stuff. The drama does unfold act by act in front of our eyes when we watch the tour.
This year has been difficult to foresee with the race not built around Armstrong. It has been a completely different Tour de France because of no clear winnners and the unpredictability. We will look back sadly because of the Spanish Doping Scandal. Thankfully, we will look back at fondly as well because of the excitement and special moments we have witnessed.
The final acts remain. So watch!
Tags: Tour de France.
