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PRE-TOUR TECH AND NEWS: ARMSTRONG BACK FOR ANOTHER SHOT AT TEAM TT
Road Bike Action & AFP
July 5, 2009
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(Photo: Roberto Bettini)
Armstrong Back For Another Shot At Team TT
On Tuesday Lance
Armstrong will get reacquainted with the Tour de France team time
trial, an exercise which played a small but important role in his seven
yellow jersey triumphs. During his reign on the race between
1999-2005 a team time trial was held six times, over an average
distance of 64km, and Armstrong's team came out top on the past three
occasions.
Armstrong's former team Discovery Channel won the
event the last time it was held in 2005, when organisers decided to
help the weaker teams by limiting the amount of time they could lose on
the stage. In 2004 US Postal, another of Armstrong's teams, won the stage ahead of Phonak and Iles Balreas. A
year earlier US Postal beat Spanish outfit ONCE and the Bianchi team of
Jan Ullrich, who lost the race to Armstrong by just 1min 03secs. In
2002 ONCE beat US Postal to first place while in 2001 Credit Agricole
won the race ahead of ONCE and Festina, a result which did not stop
Armstrong from winning his third yellow jersey. In 2000 US Postal finished second to ONCE, with the German Telekom team of Ullrich in third.
This
year, given its relatively short distance of 39km, organizers have
reverted to the old team time trial rules meaning all time gaps at the
end of the stage around Montpellier will be applied to the riders'
overall times.
Martin, Wiggins And Contador Eye Yellow Jersey
Germany's Tony Martin is among a few Tour de France riders who could be forgiven for dreaming of pulling on the race's coveted yellow jersey after the fourth stage team time trial on Tuesday. The first 26.5 km of the 39km team time trial, an event which was last held at the Tour in 2005, is over slightly undulating terrain on which the specialist teams will have little chance to make big time gaps. It is only over the relatively flat last 12.5 km that Saxo Bank, Garmin, Astana and Columbia will be able really to put their collective units into top gear.
Ahead of Monday's third stage from Marseille to La Grande Motte, Martin was the best placed rider in Columbia at only 33secs behind race leader Fabian Cancellara of Saxo Bank. Of course, the Danish outfit is hoping the power of Olympic champion Cancellara helps power their nine-man train, but team manager Bjarne Riis doesn't seem too concerned at possibly losing the yellow jersey.
"Astana, Garmin and Columbia are all strong, but we've got a good team of riders behind Cancellara," said Riis. "We've gone over the time trial course twice, and have worked a fair bit on this event. Maybe we'll win, maybe we won't but I don't think there will be big time gaps between the favorites." But Columbia, who won the team time trial at last month's Giro d'Italia, have shown their intent by previewing the course seven times and should be strong contenders to win the stage along with Garmin.
Compare that approach with the likes of Cofidis. When asked if they had gone over the 39km course at least once, climber David Moncoutie said: "Ah no, not at all." Losing riders over the team time trial is not uncommon as the time is taken from the fifth rider over the finish line. Columbia team manager Allan Peiper said he can forgive some of his weaker riders missing their designated relays, but he wants them to make amends by staying with the unit for as long as possible. "It's not that bad for us if someone misses a turn, but it's very important that the last riders to drop off have given their maximum," he said Monday.
Bradley Wiggins of Garmin, and the Astana team of Alberto Contador and Lance Armstrong, also have a chance to take over the race lead from Cancellara. Britain's reigning Olympic pursuit champion Wiggins is third in the overall standings at only 19secs behind Cancellara. Astana have four riders in the top ten, with Contador their best placed at only 18secs behind Cancellara, Germany's Andreas Kloden in fourth at 22, American Levi Leipheimer sixth at 30 and Armstrong 10th at 40. However, after Saturday's opening stage, Astana team manager Johan Bryneel was coy about whether taking hold of, and having to spend energy defending, the yellow jersey was really in their plans. "It's still 18secs on Alberto and that's a pretty big difference. It's 39km (long) and it's been a while since we've had a team time trial," said Bruyneel. "It's not our objective anyway."
Armstrong's Astana Fined For Late Registration
Lance Armstrong's Astana team were fined on Monday after failing to sign on within the specified time at the start of the third stage of the Tour de France here. Heavy traffic in Marseille city center meant Astana broke the organisers' rule that teams must register for the stage at least 20 minutes before the start of the race. The Kazakhstan-backed cycling team have been fined 65 euros for the infringement.
"How typical that this team were late. It is disrespectful to the public who came here just to see Armstrong," said race director Jean-Francois Pescheux. "The money makes no difference to them. "We will ask the UCI (the sport's governing body) to make the fines harder." The delay is reported to have been caused by Armstrong sharing a cup of coffee with A-list Hollywood actor Ben Stiller, who was visiting the Tour's VIP area here on Monday morning. Armstrong had a cameo role in the 2004 movie Dodgeball in which Stiller starred.
Crash Victim Van der Walle Withdraws From Tour
Quick Step rider Jurgen van de Walle on Monday became the first cyclist to withdraw from the 2009 Tour de France after suffering a broken collarbone on the second stage. The 32-year-old was involved in a crash just under two kilometers from the finish of Sunday's second, 187km-long stage between Monaco and Brignoles which left him with the broken collarbone and a damaged lung. The Belgian finished the stage, but was taken straight to hospital in Marseille where he was kept in under observation.
Napolitano Hits Back At Lancaster Accusations
Italian Danilo Napolitano hit back Monday at allegations that his race tactics prevented team Cervelo from pulling off a sprint coup on the second stage of the Tour de France. Australian Brett Lancaster, the main lead-out man for Cervelo's Norwegian sprinter Thor Hushovd, was left frustrated and angry Sunday with what he called the "amateur' racing of Katusha sprinter Napolitano. "We got Thor (Hushovd) right up there and then typical Napolitano just smashing people like he's in an amateur bloody under-19 race. It's just disgraceful," Lancaster told AFP. "The guy needs to pull his head in."
Britain's Mark Cavendish avoided the mayhem going on around him as other riders fought to get on his speedy back wheel, the 24-year-old Manxman winning the stage to pick up his fifth career victory on the race. Lancaster meanwhile said he had to brake hard to avoid Napolitano, bringing the Australian to a near halt forcing him to relaunch his bid to get Hushovd to the line.
Napolitano, who eventually walked over the finish line with his bike after breaking a spoke, claimed Monday he himself had been victim of a rider from the Milram team who had misjudged the final bend and caused him to brake hard. "I was on Cavendish's slipstream and there was a Milram rider in the train close to us who didn't see the corner and I ended up crashing into his back wheel," he said. In the event, Hushovd finished a commendable fourth as Cavendish easily held off American Tyler Farrar of Garmin.
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