Evans on fire as Vino crumbles on Tour de France
Thursday, July 19, 2007
ANOTHER dramatic day of racing in the thin air of the French Alps left Cadel Evans gasping for breath, but inching closer to the Tour de France yellow jersey last Tuesday.
Colombia's Mauricio Soler, of Barloworld, claimed a well-deserved victory on the ninth stage, a 159.5km run from Val d'Isere to here which included the first two unclassified-graded climbs of the race.
Evans finished third after being outsprinted on the uphill finish by Spanish rival Alejandro Valverde, but this was arguably his best ever performance on a Tour stage.
"I actually wanted to sit up and recover and give Valverde a run for his money up there, but it wasn't to be," said Evans.
"He always seems to have one or two more teammates than I do in the final and a faster sprint."
Ahead of three days of racing which should see a lull in the battle for the race's main prize, the 30-year-old Australian sits fourth overall at 2:41 behind Michael Rasmussen.
The skinny Dane retained the leader's yellow jersey with another solid performance which has virtually made him Rabobank's new title contender after Russian Denis Menchov trailed in over four minutes adrift to sit 18th overall at 7:10 behind the Danish two-time winner of the race's polka dot jersey. "My objective is to defend the yellow jersey for as long as possible. Why not all the way to Paris?" said a bullish Rasmussen.
A handful of riders, including Evans, Valverde and Germany's Andreas Kloden, will be doing everything in Saturday's first time trial, in Albi, to make sure his time in yellow comes to an end.
On the day Alexandre Vinokourov's yellow jersey hopes suffered a crushing blow on the legendary Galibier climb, Evans showed a rare glimpse of the grit which is needed to make the difference on the race's steep gradients.
As Soler went off on his own towards an eventual first stage win on his race debut, Evans was the only rider from a bunch containing all the favourites except for Vinokourov to respond to an attack by Alberto Contador.
After catching the Spanish climber 300 metres further on, another turn of pace by the precocious Discovery Channel rider left Evans struggling to follow. "For me he was one of the strongest guys, especially on the steeper climbs. He's one to watch," said Evans.
"When he went (again) I tried to stay with him, but I couldn't. He's very mature for his age."
Contador then joined Ukrainian teammate Yaroslav Popovych at the Galibier summit, with Evans following around 25secs later.
Despite valiant efforts on the winding descent, he failed to bridge the gap and was eventually caught by the group he had left earlier in order to counter Contador's jump.
After a few tactical skirmishes on the final 20km of the race, a group of around 15 riders formed in the pursuit of Soler, who claimed a well-deserved win with a 38-sec cushion.
On the uphill climb to the finish, Evans meanwhile put in a late burst which surprised everyone, except for Valverde, who came over the finish to take a few extra bonus seconds.
Vinokourov, who began the Tour as the main favourite, finished nearly three minutes later as Kloden, a runner-up in 2004 and a third place finisher last year, took virtual leadership of their Astana team.
Kloden assumed the role well, finishing the stage just 46sec behind Soler, and just seconds behind a few of his yellow jersey rivals to sit eighth overall at 3:50.
Vinokourov, perhaps riding his last Tour and still fighting the pain of knee injuries from a crash on the fifth stage, was visibly distraught. AFP
Colombia's Mauricio Soler, of Barloworld, claimed a well-deserved victory on the ninth stage, a 159.5km run from Val d'Isere to here which included the first two unclassified-graded climbs of the race.
Evans finished third after being outsprinted on the uphill finish by Spanish rival Alejandro Valverde, but this was arguably his best ever performance on a Tour stage.
"I actually wanted to sit up and recover and give Valverde a run for his money up there, but it wasn't to be," said Evans.
"He always seems to have one or two more teammates than I do in the final and a faster sprint."
Ahead of three days of racing which should see a lull in the battle for the race's main prize, the 30-year-old Australian sits fourth overall at 2:41 behind Michael Rasmussen.
The skinny Dane retained the leader's yellow jersey with another solid performance which has virtually made him Rabobank's new title contender after Russian Denis Menchov trailed in over four minutes adrift to sit 18th overall at 7:10 behind the Danish two-time winner of the race's polka dot jersey. "My objective is to defend the yellow jersey for as long as possible. Why not all the way to Paris?" said a bullish Rasmussen.
A handful of riders, including Evans, Valverde and Germany's Andreas Kloden, will be doing everything in Saturday's first time trial, in Albi, to make sure his time in yellow comes to an end.
On the day Alexandre Vinokourov's yellow jersey hopes suffered a crushing blow on the legendary Galibier climb, Evans showed a rare glimpse of the grit which is needed to make the difference on the race's steep gradients.
As Soler went off on his own towards an eventual first stage win on his race debut, Evans was the only rider from a bunch containing all the favourites except for Vinokourov to respond to an attack by Alberto Contador.
After catching the Spanish climber 300 metres further on, another turn of pace by the precocious Discovery Channel rider left Evans struggling to follow. "For me he was one of the strongest guys, especially on the steeper climbs. He's one to watch," said Evans.
"When he went (again) I tried to stay with him, but I couldn't. He's very mature for his age."
Contador then joined Ukrainian teammate Yaroslav Popovych at the Galibier summit, with Evans following around 25secs later.
Despite valiant efforts on the winding descent, he failed to bridge the gap and was eventually caught by the group he had left earlier in order to counter Contador's jump.
After a few tactical skirmishes on the final 20km of the race, a group of around 15 riders formed in the pursuit of Soler, who claimed a well-deserved win with a 38-sec cushion.
On the uphill climb to the finish, Evans meanwhile put in a late burst which surprised everyone, except for Valverde, who came over the finish to take a few extra bonus seconds.
Vinokourov, who began the Tour as the main favourite, finished nearly three minutes later as Kloden, a runner-up in 2004 and a third place finisher last year, took virtual leadership of their Astana team.
Kloden assumed the role well, finishing the stage just 46sec behind Soler, and just seconds behind a few of his yellow jersey rivals to sit eighth overall at 3:50.
Vinokourov, perhaps riding his last Tour and still fighting the pain of knee injuries from a crash on the fifth stage, was visibly distraught. AFP
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